Dark Skies
by Captain-Spangled
Summary: Alexandra Swan, although she prefers Alex, is the younger sister of Bella Swan. She and her sister decided to move in with their dad, Charlie, to give their mom a chance to be happy with her new husband Phil. How will they adjust to simple life in Forks when they find out that vampires are real? slow burn Jacob/OC [complete]
1. Chapter One: Moving Back

**Chapter One: Moving Back**

"Alex, Sweetheart! Phil says we have to go now or else you and your sister will miss your flight!"

"Coming, Mom!" I yelled over my shoulder before throwing the last of my junk into the open backpack at my feet. After pulling the zipper close, I threw the bag over one of my shoulders and took the stairs two at a time, jumping the last one. I met my mom at the bottom and flashed her a bright smile.

"You know, you don't have to stall," Renée said, bumping shoulders with me as the two of us walked out of the house. "If you want to stay here with me, all you have to do is say so."

I could hear the hope in my mother's voice, she really didn't want her babies to leave her, no matter how excited she was to be traveling with Phil. But it didn't matter how bad it made me feel, I knew I had to do this for my mother. Renée deserved the chance to live with Phil and not have to worry about Bella or myself all the time. She deserved the chance to be happy. Not that she wasn't happy when my sister and I were around. Bella and I had promised to e-mail and call often to keep her up to date on what was going on with our lives in Forks and we were going to keep that promise.

"Mom. You know I love you, but I miss dad. It will be nice to get a chance to spend more than just a few weeks a year with him." I assured, giving mom a one armed hug before moving to hop into the backseat behind Phil.

As Phil started the car, I reached out and grabbed my older sister's hand, the one NOT holding onto a small cactus clipping. Bella looked at me confused for a moment before slipping her fingers through mine. I knew she was nervous. Forks had never been her type of place, but she was doing it for mom. We both were. I wanted her to know that I was going to be there for her, that she wasn't doing it alone.

The two of us looked out our windows on the way to the airport, taking our last looks of Arizona: the clear blue sky, the bright sun, and the tall cluster of buildings. The windows were down and I couldn't help but smile as the wind played with my dark curls, loving the feeling on the warm air on my skin. As our destination came into view, Bella and I let go of each others hands and prepared ourselves for what would come next, saying goodbye to mom.

"Now you girls are positive that you want to do this?" Renee asked, looking from one daughter to the other. "Because if you don't we can pack up the car now and go back home."

"Mom, we want to go," I answered, shaking my head slightly as I stepped forward to give the older woman a hug. "Really."

As I let go, I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. It was pretty easy seeing as we were more or less the same height, myself being maybe an inch taller at the most. Bella quickly embraced Renee as soon as I was out of the way. She too assured mom that this was what we wanted before letting go.

"I just want you both to know that if at any point you want to come home, all you have to do is call me and I'll be there."

We both nodded. It wasn't the first time mom had told us that. Grabbing our bags, we waved good-bye to Renée and Phil before heading off towards our flight. Because I had the window seat I spent most of the first flight listening to music and looking out at the sky while Bella read a book. Neither of us said much during those four hours until our second flight from Seattle to Port Angeles.

"So, we're almost there," I said as the small plane took to the sky.

"Yay?" Bella answered, marking her place in her book before turning to look at me. "I mean, is that really a good thing?"

I thought about it for a moment before nodding my head. "Yeah, I think it is. I mean we get to see dad."

Although Bella had more of an odd relationship with Charlie and was, therefore, a bit nervous to be living him full time, I was excited to seem him. He was our dad after all. I was looking forward to spending more than just a couple of weeks out of the year with him, getting to know him better. I missed the old house, the woods in our backyard, hell I even missed the rain. Basically, I missed everything about Forks that Bella hated.

"Charlie… How much do you wanna bet he is going to pick us up in the cruiser?" Bella said, leaning her head back so that it rested on the high-backed plane seat.

"Like he has another car?" I pointed out, chuckling slightly. When I was younger, I had found it exciting to know that my dad was Chief of Police and made a point to tell all my friends back home about it. I mean; he was practically a superhero! I knew Bella didn't feel the same way though and that's why I thought it was funny. Bella didn't like attention and driving around in a car with red and blue lights on top was practically a neon sign that said 'look at me'.

"Still, the first chance I get, I'm going to buy my own car," Bella spoke in a determined manner. "I refuse to spend the entire time being driven around in that thing."

"Don't worry, dad promised to help you get a car. You can suck it up and ride in the cruiser until then."

The conversation then turned to school. We discussed our nerves about starting during the middle of the semester and how uncomfortable it was going to be. We both promised to keep an eye out for each other and to be ready to help for whatever reason if it was needed. It was on that note that the plane landed and the time came for the two of us to reunite with our father.

As Bella had guessed, Charlie had driven the cruiser. She flashed me a knowing look as we walked down the stairs of the plane, and because she was so uncoordinated, she stumbled due to a misplaced foot. She would have landed face first on the pavement if I hadn't been right behind her. Being used to my sister's clumsiness, I was ready to grab Bella's shoulders and hold her in place. Bella gave me a smile of thanks before walking down the rest of the steps and joining Charlie by the car.

"Hey, Dad." I greeted as I sat down my bags so that I could put my coat on, even though it now covered my yellow spaghetti strapped blouse. I had worn the shirt as a sort of tribute to the sun I was leaving behind. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, girls, too." Charlie responded before pulling us into one-armed hugs. It was a bit awkward, but we were used to it. It happened every time we came to visit him.

When the hug was over with, Charlie insisted on putting our bags in the trunk while we got into the warm car and out of the rain. Being the oldest, Bella took the passenger seat while I slid into the seat behind her. We sat quietly while waiting for dad to return. The silence continued as we pulled out of the small airport and started towards Forks. I spent the time once again looking out the window. I had forgotten just how green everything was around here. The trees, the grass, the bushes, they all seemed to glow brightly through the rain. It made me think about just how strange it was, almost alien.

It wasn't until we reached town that Charlie broke the silence.

"Your hair's longer," he commented, looking sideways at Bella.

I leaned forward in the back seat to see my sister examine the ends of a small chunk of hair. "I cut it since the last time we saw you."

"Oh, guess it grew out again."

Bella just awkwardly nodded her head.

We all sat there for a moment before Charlie looked at his youngest in the rearview mirror.

"How's your mom?" He asked.

"She's fine, hasn't changed much," I answered, giving a small smile.

This time, it was Charlie who nodded his head uncomfortably before the car slipped into silence once more. I remembered now just how much like our dad Bella was, both of them awkward and quiet. Nothing more was said as we drove through town on the way to the house. I took in all the buildings that I hadn't seen in three years. They all seemed to look the same. The timber museum, the small police station across from City Hall. Each landmark showed how close we were to arriving home.

When we finally pulled into the driveway of the old two-story building of my childhood, I couldn't help but bounce slightly in my seat. Getting out of the car, I helped carry my bags into the house and made my way up the stairs towards my old room. The door was open a crack so I pushed it open with my foot before setting my bags down and taking in the tiny space.

It looked almost exactly like I had left it. My posters still hung on the wall as well as my knick-knacks, which still sat on the shelves. The only really big change was that my stuffed animals and other toys had been removed and a vanity had been left in their place. I was just running my fingers over its top when there came a small knock at the door. Turning around I saw it was Charlie.

"It was your mothers. I gave your sister your Grandpa's old desk so I hope this is okay. There should be enough room for you to do your homework on it." He said, leaning against the doorframe. "I also cleared some shelves in the bathroom for the two of you."

I had forgotten that there was only one bathroom. That was going to make things interesting.

I quickly pushed the thought from my mind, however. "It's perfect, thank you."

Charlie looked at me and nodded before looking over at the bed. "The sales lady helped pick out your bedspread. I hope the color's fine."

I followed my father's gaze and saw the dark red comforter folded up at the end of the bed with what looked like matching pillowcases on top. From what I could see, they were both covered with black designs. Normally I would have preferred a blue like my bed set back in Arizona but for some reason I found myself liking the color. It was a sort of burgundy and went well with the gray walls.

"I love it. Thanks, Dad."

"Good." I could tell that Charlie was relieved to hear that. "Well, I guess I'll let you get to unpacking."

Detaching himself from the doorframe, he turned into the hall and went downstairs. I watched him go for a moment before grabbing my bags and moving them to the bed. I was in the middle of moving my clothes from said bags into my small dresser and closet when I heard a honk. I only had one window that faced the front yard and, unfortunately, it was blocked by a large tree. Being unable to see who was here, I walked out of the room and started to make my way downstairs. I met my sister in the front entryway and together the two of us exited the house to see Charlie greeting two people as they got out of a beat-up old truck.

"Bella, Alex," Charlie called when he saw us standing by the front door. "You both remember Billy Black."

I nodded my head in greeting while Bella spoke, "Hey, you're lookin' good."

Billy chuckled slightly. "Well, I'm still dancin'. Glad you two are finally here. Charlie here hasn't shut up about it since you told him you both were coming."

The comment caused both of us to chuckle slightly while dad looked a bit embarrassed.

"All right, keep exaggerating and I'll roll you into the mud." Charlie threatened jokingly.

"Right after I ram you in the ankles." Billy shot back before wheeling himself after his friend.

My sister and I stood there watching the two older men for a moment before someone else drew our attention. He looked to be around my age with russet skin, dark brown eyes and even darker hair that fell past his shoulders. He was pretty cute. Something in the back of my mind told me that I knew him. But where did I know him from?

"Hi, I'm Jacob," he said shyly. It seemed I wasn't the only one unable to remember him because Bella wore a confused expression as well. This caused the boy to add, "We, um, we used to make mud pies together when we were little."

Without warning, I snapped my fingers and pointed at him. "That's right!" I exclaimed, remembering him now. "I talked you into eating one once. Sorry about that."

I could remember him throwing up shortly after eating that mud pie. He didn't feel good after that and had to go home. I hadn't been able to really apologize because it happened a few days before Bella and I were supposed to return home. Jacob didn't seem to mind, however, as he chuckled and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. That was a long time ago."

"Are they always like this?" Bella asked, pointing to the two dads who were still play fighting in the middle of the street.

"It's getting worse with old age," Jacob told us, chuckling again.

I joined in on the laughing as Charlie came forward and patted the back of the truck. "So what do you girls think of your homecoming gift?"

My mouth dropped; he had gotten us a truck? Within the twenty minutes we had been in town he had already done what he promised he would do.

"No way. The truck is for us?" Bella asked, not being able to believe it either.

"Just bought it off Billy, here," Charlie confirmed. Before he could say anything more, I launched myself at him, burying my head in his chest while my arms squeezed him tight around his middle. He stiffened slightly before returning my hug, patting my back gently.

"It's perfect!" Bella said happily, beaming her first real smile all day.

Quickly, she opened the driver's side door and hopped into the seat. Jacob also looked excited as he made his way over to the passenger's side. After letting go of Charlie, I gave him one more grin before joining the two at the vehicle, sticking my head through Bella's open window.

"Okay, so you gotta double pump the clutch when you shift, but… besides that you should be good." Jacob instructed before handing Bella the keys.

"Is that this one?" Bella asked, wanting to make sure she had the right one. Jacob confirmed that it was indeed the right one and Bella started the car. The loudness of it surprised me, causing me to jump slightly. That was going to take some getting used too.

"So, wanna ride to school or something?" Bella asked, turning to Jake. Seemed only fair to give the kid a ride.

"Oh, um, I go to school on the reservation," he said.

An awkward silence fell over the three of us for a moment as that sunk in.

"That's too bad," Bella said suddenly, "It would've been nice to know one person."

"Hey, you always got me, sis." I pointed out, reaching through the window to push her shoulder gently.

Bella turned to look at me and attempted a very weak smile. We were in different grades meaning we wouldn't see each other very much except for maybe once or twice in the hallways. It would have been nice to have at least one other familiar, friendly face at school. Unfortunately, we were going to have to settle for one another.

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Authors Notes:: So this is the first update for my new Twilight story. I've decided to try writing in first person so be patient with me if it's a bit bumpy. This story will pretty much follow the movie but have some serious book influence as you'll see in the next couple of chapters. There is a collection on polyvore so you can check that out by clicking on the link on my profile. Please tell me what you think about this story so far and if you would like me to continue. Posting new stories kinda freaks me out because I never know if people are going to like them or not. So, yeah. :)


	2. Chapter Two: First Day of School

**Chapter Two: First Day of School**

The next morning I woke up from one of the best nights sleep I had ever had. I was one of those people who had to have noise in the background to fall asleep; I couldn't stand when things were dead silent cause when I hear a noise, I automatically assume it's a killer there to murder me. The whooshing of the wind through the trees and the patter of rain hitting the roof and windows was soothing and had me asleep in no time. I didn't even care when my phone alarm woke me up at six-thirty.

"Oh good, you're up," Bella said moments later, opening the door in her light gray robe, dark hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Yup, no need for a wake up call today!" I said, stretching my arms over my head before pushing myself out of bed. "I'm going to go and take a shower too."

Grabbing my toiletry bag from the dresser by my door, I followed my sister out of my room and made my way into the small bathroom that separated our rooms. Stripping out of the sweatpants and t-shirt I had worn to bed, I quickly turned on the hot water and stepped under its steady stream to escape the cold air of the house. I worked quickly at scrubbing my hair and body clean, not knowing if Charlie still needed to get in here. Once I was finished, I pulled on my dark purple robe and twisted my hair up into a towel. Wiping away the condensation for the mirror, I smiled at my reflection.

My sister and I looked very much alike, but then again, we were sisters. The nose, the lips, the height, all the same; except for the eyes. The shape was the same, but where Bella had inherited Charlie's chocolate brown eyes I had gotten Renee's bright blue ones. Our hair was the same shade of dark brown until I dyed it so that mine now appeared more of a reddish-brown. After taking one last look in the mirror, I opened the door and came face to face with Charlie who must have been waiting.

"Morning." I greeted cheerfully, which was strange because I normally wasn't a morning person. Something I must had inherited from Charlie as he just looked at me before mumbling a 'morning' and shuffling into the bathroom.

Once back in my bedroom, I walked over to the small closet and picked out something to wear. Being as it was my first day and I was bound to be looked at by the other students, I decided on wearing something that would help me blend in more. I figured that if I looked like everyone else it would be hard for them to pick me out as the new kid right away.

I ended up choosing a long-sleeved black shirt with a boat neckline and a pair of dark wash skinny jeans with a few small holes in the front. Around my neck, I added a mint green scarf to add at least a little bit of color to the outfit and shoved my feet into my black converse. My wet hair I played with until the curls fell more loosely than normal. To finish the look, I applied a small amount of make-up, focusing more on my eyes to make them pop. Once I was finished, I gave myself a once over in the full-length mirror attached to the back of my door before heading downstairs to get some breakfast.

Bella and Charlie were both already seated around the small table, eating their cereal quietly. Grabbing a bowl, I wordlessly joined them. It wasn't until Charlie wished us luck at school before he left for the station that the silence was broken. We both mumbled our responses as he walked out the door, both looking deep into our bowls. The excitement I had once felt was slowly slipping away and being replaced with nerves. Although I was more outgoing than my sister, I still didn't really like being the center of attention, have all eyes on me. I was thankful that I had my sister and that I was there for Bella, we could be each other's rock.

"Well, I guess we should get going too," Bella said after five minutes had passed. She figured it wasn't helping by just sitting there. We might as well go and get it over with.

"Okay," I answered, pushing myself from the table and out of the mixed matched chair to put my bowl in the sink. After pulling on my jacket, I grabbed my light blue backpack and followed Bella out of the house and into the truck.

The school was easy to find, even with the fog and rain. Bella parked in a spot and then together we both walked quickly across the lot and into the building where we started looking for the office. It wasn't hard to find either since it was to our left as soon as we walked through the main doors. I held the door open for Bella before stepping inside as well. The room was nice and warm compared to outside. Behind the desk was a woman with red hair who looked up at the sound of the door opening.

"Can I help you, ladies?" She asked in an almost bored voice. Or maybe she was just tired, I wasn't sure.

"I'm Isabella Swan and this is my sister Alexandra. We're here to get our schedules." Bella said, watching as the woman's eyes suddenly light up with recognition.

"Oh yes, of course." Her voice had become a lot more cheery, as though she was trying to make a good impression on the Chief of Police's daughters. Quickly, she started digging around in one of the cabinets before pulling out a bunch of papers. "I have your schedules right here as well as a couple maps of the school."

She went through all our classes with us as well as highlighted the best ways to get to them on our maps. The last thing she gave to us was a slip that we would have to get our teachers to sign before bringing them back at the end of the day. The two of us left the office five minutes later with the lady wishing us 'good luck' on our first day.

"Ugh, if everyone is like that around us today, I think I'm going to go crazy," I mumbled as we joined the growing flow of students in the hallways.

"I know what you mean," Bella stated, looking down at her schedule in disgust. "I can't believe they are making us take gym."

Our old school had only required the class for two years, something that Bella was thankful for. With her lack of coordination, she either succeeded in injuring herself or someone else in almost every class. Now it seemed like she was going to get the chance to do the same in our new school.

"At least we have it together." I offered, trying to be helpful. I was a little surprised when I saw that, but hey, I wasn't going to complain. "I'll help make sure you don't injure that many people. Plus we have lunch together so everything won't be too bad."

"I guess you're rig-" Bella started only to be interrupted by an Asian boy stepping in front of us.

"You're Isabella and Alexandra Swan, the new girls? Hi. I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place. Anything you need, tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on, I'm your guy."

Bella and I both shared a quick look, wondering if they guy was being serious. When we saw him waiting for us to respond we decided to humor him.

"I'm more the 'Suffer in silence' type," Bella said.

This caused the boy—Eric—to turn to me. "I don't like crying in front of people…"

Eric just shook his head. "No biggie, this is all good information for your feature—I'm on the paper, and you two are news, baby, front page."

This, of course, got Bella stuttering and caused my eyes to widen. We didn't want to be in the school paper, let alone the front page!

"No, we're not," Bella managed to stutter out.

"Please don't put us in the paper. Please. We're really not all that exciting." I begged at the same time.

Noticing both of our discomforts, Eric held up his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, no feature."

"Thank you." Bella breathed before looking down at the map in her hands. "Do you think you could point me towards Mr. Mason's class?"

"Yeah, sure. No problem." As he spoke, he slung his arm over Bella's shoulder in an attempt to be cool. "I'm heading there myself."

I noticed that he had that sort of cute in a nerdy way thing going for him. But his constant talking and slight awkwardness was a bit of a deterrent. All I wanted was to get away from him. I saw my chance to do just that when I looked down at my own map of the school.

"You coming, Alexandra?" Eric asked when he noticed that I hadn't followed them.

"You can call me Alex. And my class is in the other direction so I'm just going to catch up with you guys later."

As I spoke I slowly started to walk backward. Bella watched me go with a sad and almost scared expression on her face. I gave my sister a sad wave before turning the right way around and trying to find my first class. Seeing as it was math, one of my worst subjects, and I was already behind I didn't want to be late. With my map held in front of my face, I didn't see where I was going and ended up walking straight into someone.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry," I exclaimed from my place on the ground, moving quickly to pick up my loose papers before they could be stepped on and ruined by people's wet shoes.

"Don't worry about it." The person whom I had bumped into said in a calm voice.

As soon as I had picked up all my papers, I looked at the person for the first time. She was a pale, thin girl with dark red hair and large green eyes. A dusting of freckles spread from her nose and across her cheeks to down the side of her neck where they disappeared beneath her dark t-shirt.

"I'm really sorry," I said again before helping the girl to her feet. "I should have been paying more attention to where I was going."

The girl brushed her clothes off wordlessly before looking at me, her face slightly confused. "Are you new? I don't think I've met you before."

I nodded her head, preparing myself for the girl across from me to freak out when she realized who I was. "Yeah, I'm Alex Swan. My sister and I just moved here from Arizona."

"Sweet." The red-haired girl said in an even tone. "I'm Leslie."

It surprised me that she was treating me like a normal person instead of some sort of new animal at the Zoo. "It's nice to meet you."

"So do you need help finding your class or something?" Leslie asked, looking down at the map in my hand.

"Um, yeah. That would be great." I answered, shifting through the papers until I came to the one with my schedule on it, which I handed to Leslie.

The other girl looked at it for a moment before handing it back. "Come on, Trig is right across from my class. I'll take you."

"Thanks," I said before falling into step with Leslie.

The two of us said nothing until we came to the Math room.

"Wait for me after class and I'll show you where you're next class is, okay?" Leslie instructed before turning around and walking into the class across the hall.

"Okay," I muttered to myself before taking a deep breath and walking into my own class.

There were already a few people sitting in desks, talking quietly with one another, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. At least they were too busy with each other to notice me so that made me feel a bit better. Slowly, I started to make my way to the teacher's desk.

"Excuse me, I'm Alexandra Swan." I greeted quietly. "I'm new."

The woman sitting at the desk looked up from the papers in front of her and turned to look at me. She had short curly hair, a plump frame, and black-jeweled glasses resting on the tip of her nose. Like Leslie, she didn't change into an overly happy, fake, voice when speaking to me but kept it slow and disinterested.

"Yes, yes, yes. Here is your book. I expect you to be caught up as quickly as possible. I won't slow down my lessons for you," she said sharply before pointing to one of the empty desks in the middle of class. "You'll be sitting there."

"Yes, ma'am."

Quickly, I picked up my book and tried not to notice that the other students were now looking at me. I could feel their eyes following me as I walked over to my desk, sat my book on the tabletop, and slid into the seat. In an attempt to ignore their whispering, I got my things ready for class before pretending to look through my book.

I was relieved when the bell finally rang and class started. Even though it was math, it helped to focus on copying the notes and problems from the board rather than my classmates around me. The teacher, Mrs. Jones, was a strict woman who didn't put up with people talking during her class so I didn't have to worry about the other students talking about me.

When the class was finished, I quickly packed up my things and was relieved to see Leslie, leaning against the wall across from the door, waiting for me. On the way to World History, the two of us chatted easily. Leslie asked me what I thought of Mrs. Jones and laughed when I told her she was like a frightening demon lady.

"Better get used to it, she's like that all the time. Math is her life. My brother told me she once made a girl in his class cry because she didn't know the answer to a question."

_Oh great. Guess I won't be going in to get help anytime soon._

World History was worse than Math. Even though I sat in the back of the room with Leslie, the other kids still found a way to stare at me. Many of them whispered about me, but only a few were brave enough to actually speak to me. The questions were easy enough to answer, but I soon got tired of answering them because they all seemed to be the same. How do you like Forks so far? Do you like the rain? What was Arizona like? Do you need any help getting to your next class?

It made me happy to know that I had Leslie there. When it seemed like I was getting a bit overwhelmed with all the questions she would help me get rid of the person by saying we were going to be late for our next class or that she needed to go to the bathroom and I had to go with so that I knew where they were. The teachers were nice enough, but I couldn't help but wonder if they were putting on an act for my sake. It got me wondering if Bella was feeling the same way.

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Authors Note:: So I only got one one review on the previous chapter, thank you very much **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**, but I got quiet a few favorites and follows so I guess that's good too. I think now would be a good time to point out that I own nothing of Twilight except of Alex and Leslie. Please leave me a review or message with your thoughts on this chapter and thank you so much for reading. :)


	3. Chapter Three: Lunch Time

**Chapter Three: Lunch Time**

When it came to be time for lunch I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Finally, I was going to be able to see my sister and eat something since I more pushed my cereal around this morning than actually ate it. The only bad thing was that Leslie didn't have the same lunch as me. I was starting to like her and thought that we could probably be friends, maybe even best friends. I caught up with her just as she was exiting the lunchroom. We waved at each other before I caught sight of my sister and made a beeline towards her.

"Bella!" I cried excitedly, smiling as I went to stand by her. She smiled back at me.

"Oh, is this your sister?" Asked the girl standing next the Bella; I hadn't even seen her standing there, she was so short. Well, shorter than me and I was about 5'5 on a good day. "I'm Jessica."

"Alex."

Jessica smiled before picking up where she left off; her light brown hair swishing as she talked energetically about a topic that went over my head. Picking up a tray so that I could get some food, I shot my sister a look, raising an eyebrow. She didn't seem like the usual person that Bella connected with, not that I wasn't happy that my sister had made a friend on her first day.

After we had all paid for our food, Jessica led us over to a small table and took a seat. Already seated and having a conversation was that Eric kid from earlier this morning and a boy with blonde hair and a round face. He smiled and introduced himself as Mike Newton.

"Hey, Mikey, you've met my home-girls Bella and Alex, I see," Eric said before I could introduce myself.

"Oh, your—they're your home-girls?" Mike asked in a disbelieving tone, raising an eyebrow.

"My girl." Some random dude interjected, popping out of nowhere. He placed a quick kiss on Bella's check before pulling Mike's chair out from under him so he landed on his ass. There was a shout as Mike got up and quickly chased after the guy.

Bella's face turned red while I chuckled.

"The day's not even over yet and you already have boys fighting over you." I teased, causing Bella's face to turn a darker shade of red while she turned her attention to her food, pushing it around with her fork.

"Oh my god, it's like, first grade all over again, you're the shiny new toy," Jessica said with a smile although her tone of voice showed that she wasn't entirely happy. I got the feeling that she liked to be the center of attention.

Bella looked up from her food and gave a small, awkward smile, unsure of how to respond. Suddenly, a blinding light flashed in front of my face causing me to see little balls of light. I blinked quickly to try and get them to go away. Next to me, Bella did the same, a confused look on her face.

"Sorry, needed a candid for the feature." A plain but pretty girl in glasses said as she lowered the camera.

"The feature's dead, Angela. Don't bring it up again," Eric said angrily, glaring at the girl before turning to look at a Bella who was stuttering again. "Don't worry, baby, I got your back."

I watched him walk away before turning back to the other girls. "Okay, is he, like, always that weird."

Jessica nodded her head while the new girl, Angela, took a seat next to her, her camera sitting on the table. I could see that she seemed a little disappointed so I tried to make her feel better.

"Sorry, that he snapped at you. It's just that we told him this morning that we didn't really want to be on the front page of the paper."

Angela turned to look at me and offered a small smile. "No. It's okay. We'll just… run another editorial on teen drinking I guess."

"You know, you could always go for…eating disorders…or speedo padding on the swim team." Bella offered, speaking for the first time.

The three of us looked at her for a moment before Angela smiled widely. "That's actually a really good one."

"I know right?" Jessica said, putting herself into the conversation.

Her and Angela then said some boys name and commented on how he was so skinny that it didn't make sense. I watched the two talk, half interested when Bella cut in.

"Who are _they_?"

The way Bella said it, kinda breathy and in awe, peaked my curiosity and caused me to turn around. When I saw them, walking just outside the lunchroom, I knew why she was in awe. There were four of them and they were beautiful, all of them, with perfect pale skin, fancy clothes, and hair that seemed to fall perfectly from their heads. They were all so similar yet totally different all at the same time.

"They're, um, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids," Jessica told us. Her tone suggested that they were old news but that she was excited to talk about them. "They moved down here from Alaska, like, a few years ago."

"They kinda keep to themselves," Angela added as the beautiful blonde girl entered the lunchroom, holding hands with the muscular bodybuilder with dark brown hair. They were both so graceful that they hardly seemed real.

"Yeah 'cause they're all together… like, _together_, together." I could tell that Jessica was really getting excited.

I shook my head. "Yeah, but who are they?" I needed names, specifics as to why this was so important. Sure they were beautiful, but they were just people.

Jessica seemed to be waiting for that and leaned forward slightly in her seat. "Okay, so that blonde girl, that's Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmett, they're like a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal."

"Jess, they're not actually related." Angele pointed out calmly. I was starting to like her a lot more over Jessica.

"Yeah, but they live together." Jessica shot back as the next couple entered the cafeteria.

The girl was so thin and small that she seemed to glide across the floor rather than walk across it. Her dark black hair was cut in a pixie style, which I thought was fitting since that's what she looked like to me. The blonde boy next to her was tall and lean with honey-colored blonde curls. He wore an expression on his face that I could only describe as he really had to go to the bathroom and was trying really hard to focus on something else. The expression quickly changed to one of adoration though as he gave the short girl a quick spin.

"The little dark haired girl, Alice, she's really weird," Jessica explained. I sent a quick glare her way before turning back to the couple. She seemed fine to me, but then again I've never actually met her. "She's with Jasper, the blonde who looks like he's in pain. I mean, Dr. Cullen's like this foster dad slash matchmaker."

"Maybe he'll adopt me," Angela said wistfully.

I turned back to the girls and laughed slightly. They were so weird, but in a good way. Next to me I heard Bella take in a shaky breath before asking, "Who's_ he_?"

Furrowing my brows in confusion, I turned around in my seat to see the most beautiful boy that I have ever seen in my life. He looked like he should be at a photo-shoot in some big city rather than this tiny lunchroom in a small town. Everything about him was perfect, from his bronze-colored hair to his boyish yet mysterious features.

"That's Edward Cullen," Jessica answered after a quick sigh, drawing my attention back to her. "He's totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently, no one here is good enough for him. Like I care," she added quickly.

I turned back around; both to get another look at the guy as well as hide my smirk. I could tell from her tone that she really did care and it had me wondering if something had happened between the two-or what hadn't happened.

"Don't waste your time." Jessica finished bitterly, stabbing roughly at her food.

"I wasn't planning on it," Bella said, turning away from the group for the first time since they entered.

Jessica changed the subject to some other form of gossip, but I was no longer listening. Instead, I was sneaking glances at the Cullens. I didn't know why, it wasn't like they were doing anything amazing like flips across the floor or something. They were just sitting there. But there was just something interesting about them.

_Okay Alex, could you be any bigger of a creep? Stop staring at them! They are just people!_

Just as the thought crossed my mind, the boyish looking one turned his head towards me. His dark eyes met my shocked blue ones and we stared at each other for a moment before I quickly turned away. My cheeks burned red. I can't believe I had been caught staring!

But yet, as I sat there trying to slow my heart rate down, I thought of something. The way he turned his head mimicked the way people usually do when they hear someone calling their name. They turn their head in that direction and hope to recognize the person. I hadn't, nor anyone near me, said anything remotely loud enough for them to hear all the way across the noisy cafeteria. So why had he looked directly at me with a confused yet almost amused look on his face?

* * *

Spanish was absolutely boring. Like math, it wasn't one of my stronger subjects but I was so ready for the day to end that I didn't even care that I wasn't paying attention. It didn't help that Leslie was in my class and was constantly making faces at me from across the room when the teacher's back was turned. When the bell rang, I all but ran out of the class, barely catching the assignment we were supposed to have done for tomorrow.

On my way to the gym, which Leslie was nice enough to point me in the direction of, I caught up with Bella and that Mike kid from the lunch table. Smiling to myself, I quickened my pace so that I could catch up to them.

"- in California until I was ten. You get used to all the rain eventually, but I still miss it sometimes." Mike was saying.

"Miss what?" I asked, sticking my head in-between them and draping my arms around their shoulders. I couldn't help but laugh as they both jumped in surprise, Bella more so than Mike.

Mike was the one to recover first. "The sun."

"Ahh," I said, nodding my head slowly. "I'm Alex by the way, didn't exactly get a chance to properly introduce myself at lunch."

The two moved apart slightly so that I could walk in the middle of them.

"It's nice to meet you. Are you going to gym too?" Mike asked as we turned a corner, the gym doors coming into view.

"Yup." I popped the 'p'.

"Cool," Mike said before rushing to open the door for us.

We both thanked him as we passed and waited so that we could all walk to the locker rooms together. It was quiet for a moment before Mike leaned forward slightly to look at Bella.

"So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that before."

My eyes widened as I turned to look at Bella. "No way, you stabbed someone?" I asked in mock surprise before turning to Mike. "It's always the quiet ones you have to look out for."

Mike chuckled at my joke while Bella just shook her head. "I don't know. I never spoke to him."

"He's a weird guy." Mike insisted. By then we had arrived at the changing rooms but he didn't make a move to leave. Instead, he found it necessary to add, "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."

Unsure of what to say, Bella just smiled at him before turning and walking into the girl's locker rooms. I gave an awkward wave before following her in.

"Okay, he is seriously crushing on you," I said, smirking as I bumped shoulders with Bella. "And you are totally going to have to fill me in on what happened with Cullen."

Bella just sighed before nodding her head and promising she would tell me everything.

Coach Clapp didn't have us participate in class today but instead let us sit off to the side and watch. I could tell Bella was relieved, but I was a bit disappointed. They were playing volleyball, a sport that I was very good at. I quickly got over it though when Bella took the time to fill me in on what happened in Biology. I'm not going to lie, I was kinda pissed. I don't care how pretty someone might be; it didn't give them an excuse to be rude to other people. Especially not my sister.

Because we hadn't taken part in the activities during gym class, it was easy for us to slip out into the hall after the final bell and avoid Mike. Although he seemed nice enough, Bella didn't really want to deal with him and I didn't want to be slowed down. All we had to do was drop off our signed papers in the office and then we could go home.

I was so ready for a nap.

Like this morning, I held the door open for Bella. I was surprised when I walked into her back. Gently, I pushed her into the room and saw why it was she had frozen in the doorway. _He_ was standing there, with his back to us, arguing with the receptionist.

"There must be something open sixth period. Physics? Biochem?" Edward Cullen asked, the irritation in his voice easy to pick up.

"I'm sorry, every class if full. I'm afraid you'll have to stay in Biology." The receptionist answered.

_Could he be any more of an ass?_ I asked myself, glaring at the back of his head. He had only spent one class with Bella and now he was trying to switch into something else? Talk about rude.

"Just a minute dears," The red haired lady said, looking over Edward's shoulder at us.

I watched as his back suddenly stiffened before he turned around to look at Bella and me. I could feel my glare falter as he flashed me his own. His was much more intimidating, his dark eyes flickering from me to Bella in an instant before he turned back to the receptionist.

"Never mind, then," he said in a voice smooth as butter, "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help."

Turning on his heel, he made his way quickly out the door without another glance at us. As he passed I muttered a faint 'dick' under my breath before stepping forward to hand the receptionist the slip of paper signed by all my teachers.

* * *

Authors Notes:: Here is another chapter. Reviews would be nice but thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed this story. I'm trying to decide if this is going to be a Jacob/oc story so let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter Four: Dinner at the Diner

**Chapter Four: Dinner at the Diner**

When we finally were able to leave the office and walked out the front doors, Bella and I saw that our beat-up truck was the only vehicle still sitting in the parking lot. Moving quickly, but also carefully to avoid the large rain puddles that had formed, we ran to the truck and hopped in. I could tell right away that something was wrong with Bella as she just sat in the drivers seat, staring unseeingly out the windshield.

"It's okay Bella," I said softly, moving over so I could put an arm around her shoulders.

We sat in the truck like this for I don't even know how long. It wasn't until the cold started to seep through the cracks that Bella finally started the truck and drove us home. She never said a word. But that didn't bother me; I could only imagine how bad things had been for her today.

When we pulled into the driveway, it was raining once again so I quickly jumped out of the truck and ran to the front door. Taking the key from its hiding place, I unlocked the door and dropped my backpack on the ground with a heavy thud.

"Okay, I need a nap," I muttered as I pulled off my wet jacket and hung it on the rack by the door.

"We have to meet Charlie at the diner for supper in an hour." Bella reminded me, hanging up her coat as well. Her voice was a bit rough, but I ignored it like I ignored the fact she had been holding back tears on the way home. I knew she wouldn't want to talk about it.

A groan escaped my mouth as I turned to look at her, "Do I have to go?"

"I guess you really don't have to, but it would be nice if you did. I don't want to go by myself."

I thought about it, not going. But then I thought about Bella and Charlie sitting in a booth together, silently eating their food between awkward attempts at conversation. I couldn't do that to her, not after the day that she had just gone through.

With a sigh, I bent down to pick up my backpack. "Okay, let me go put my crap upstairs and then we can go."

Turning on my heel, I made my way upstairs and into my room. Resting my backpack on the floor next to my vanity/desk, I walked the short distance to my bed and fell back on it. If I couldn't take a nap I was at least going to take a minute for myself. It was hard to pull myself back up, but I somehow managed it. After taking a quick glance in the mirror to check my appearance and fix my hair, I left my room and went to join my sister. She hadn't moved really, she was still in the kitchen. The only different was that she was now sitting in one of the mix matched chairs at the table. When she heard me enter the room, she stood up and walked over to the door.

"Ready?" She asked, grabbing her coat and putting it back on.

I just nodded my head as I threw on my coat as well before heading out the door towards the truck. This time I drove, finding the diner easily. It helped that Charlie's cruiser was parked right out front. It saved us the trouble of having to go in and wait for him while making conversation with people we've forgotten the names of. Pulling in next to Charlie, we both hustled into the warm diner and walked over to where our dad sat waiting. Bella and I both sat next to Charlie so that he was in the middle, her on the left and me on the right. It wasn't long before our orders were taken and the food was brought out, the whole time in between we sat in silence.

"I can't get over how grown up the two of you are." The waitress, Cora, said as she placed our food in front of us. "And both so gorgeous."

Bella and I both smiled at the compliment, thanking her for her kind words and then for our food. Next to us, Charlie kept his eyes down on his stake. A part of me felt a bit bad that I didn't remember this lady, she seemed like a nice person.

"Hey, do you girls 'member me? I played Santa one year." An older guy said, coming over to stand next to Cora who smiled at him.

"Yeah, Waylon, they haven't had a Christmas here since Bella was four and Alex was three." Charlie pointed out.

Waylon just shook his head, smile still in place. "Bet I made an impression, though, didn't I?"

"You always do." Charlie agreed. I smiled as a smirk appeared on his face.

"Buttcrack Santa?" Cora supplied, earning a laugh from both Bella and I.

"Hey, kids loved those little bottles, though."

"All right, let the girls eat their burgers, Waylon," Cora said, patting the man gently on the chest before pushing him off in the direction he had come from. She then turned back to us. "As soon as you're done, I'll bring you two your favorite—berry cobbler. Remember?"

"That'd be great, thank you." Bella nodded politely. I wondered if she remembered eating berry cobbler because I sure didn't. Not that I wouldn't eat it, I wasn't very picky when it came to desserts.

Now that the three of us were alone, we all started to get ready to eat. Each of us put our hands out to grab condiments at the same time making things a bit awkward. Bella and Charlie knocked hands as they both reached for the ketchup while I stretched my hand under them to grab the mustard. It was all a bit uncomfortable as dad handed Bella the red bottle while I sat quietly off to the side. Nearby, another family sat laughing causing us to feel even worse. I don't think we would never be that type of family; we were just too uncomfortable around one another.

"So… do you eat here every night?" Bella asked, trying to break the silence.

"Easier than doing dishes." Charlie reasoned, placing a bit of stake in his mouth.

"You know, Bella cooks. She's a lot better than mom." I added to the conversation, leaning forward slightly to look at Bella. "Her food is actually edible."

Renée was a very imaginative cook. I think she liked the idea of playing around with different foods more than actually trying to make them taste good. Although every once and a while, she would come up with something amazing. As one of her tasters, I wish those days came along more often.

Charlie chuckled at the comment, nodding his head. "I remember your mother's cooking."

There was another lapse of silence before Charlie spoke again, it seemed he was trying really hard to keep the conversation going. I had to give him points for that; he wasn't really that big of a talker.

"So how was school? Meet anyone?"

"I met this girl Leslie, she seemed pretty nice," I answered, picking up my cheeseburger and taking a bite.

Bella told him a bit about the friends she had made, Jessica, Mike, and Angela. I almost wanted to point out that Eric was there also but stopped myself when Charlie commented about knowing Mike's family. I didn't want to interrupt him. After that I thought we would fall into another silent spell when Bella spoke.

"Do you know the Cullen family?" She asked the question in a hesitant tone.

It seemed she was right in doing so because Charlie's head snapped up faster than I thought possible.

"Are people talking about them again?"

"Well, kinda," I said, drawing his attention to me. "We saw them at lunch and asked about them. They seemed a bit different."

This launched Charlie into the longest chain of sentences I have ever heard him say. He told us that Forks was lucky to have a surgeon like Dr. Cullen, that he could be working in any hospital he wanted but instead chose to work in this small town. He also said that the Cullen children behaved better than some of the kids whose families have lived there for years.

"I didn't mean anything in a bad way." And I hadn't. I didn't really know them so I couldn't really judge them. "It's just, they seemed to keep to themselves mostly."

"I just don't like narrow-mindedness," Charlie said in an almost apologetic voice.

We weren't very good at this whole dinnertime, family conversation, thing.

* * *

We got home half an hour later. Dreading the small pile of homework I had waiting for me in my unopened backpack, I slowly made my way up the stairs. I managed to kill maybe two minutes at most. Sitting down at my vanity, I cleared some of my junk before pulling books out of my backpack. I was able to translate a few sentences for Spanish before I heard Bella calling my name from her room. Willing to do anything over homework, I placed my pencil in the book to help mark my place before getting up to go see what she wanted.

"Mom's on the phone," she said as I walked into the room.

Instantly my eyes lit up as I quickly walked over to her bed. Crawling excitedly across her schoolbooks and homework, I sat myself down next to her before pulling her hand (and phone) closer to me.

"Hi, mommy!" I called happily into the mouthpiece, grinning when I heard the familiar sound of my mom's laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Hi, baby."

The three of us slipped into easy conversation for a while before mom brought up Phil. Apparently he was doing good, good enough that she and him might be living in Florida permanently soon. I was about to comment on it when we were interrupted.

_"Please insert a dollar twenty-five for an additional three minutes,"_ a pre-recorded voice instructed.

"Mom, where's your cell?" Bella asked, chuckling slightly.

"Okay, I didn't lose my power cord. It ran away. Screaming." Renée told us, laughing as well. "I literally repel technology now."

A small twinge hit my stomach and I realized how much I missed my mom. From the look on Bella's face, I could tell that she missed her too. The sound of mom feeding the payphone quarters could be heard faintly before her voice returned.

"So, tell me more about your school. What are the kids like? Are there any cute boys?"

"The school's fine I guess, it's really small. But I did manage to make one friend. Her name's Leslie." I reported, keeping it pretty simple seeing as I hadn't really met anyone else. I mean, there were Bella's friends, but I had just met them at lunch, I needed more time to decide if they were going to be friends of mine as well. I purposely didn't answer the question about boys.

"That's great, baby," Mom said happily, "What about you, Bella. Did you make any friends?"

"Yeah, ah, I met a couple people that I ate lunch with. They're pretty okay." It was a bit hard to pick out, but I could hear something in her voice that suggested she wasn't just talking about the gang from the lunch table. It almost seemed like she was saying they were the only ones that were okay.

"Alex sat with us as well," she added in an effort to cover up what she had just said.

It didn't work. The three of us were close and mom was able to pick up the different tone in Bella's voice as well.

"Uh oh, is someone being mean to you?"

I watched as Bella started to get frustrated, throwing her pen into her book before closing it and pushing it from her lap. "It doesn't even matter."

"Yes, it does, honey," Mom said in a soothing voice, "Alex, what happened?"

"Well it wasn't anything too big just some-" I started only to be cut off by Bella.

"Mom, I-I have homework to do. Um, We'll talk to you later, okay?"

There was a small pause before we heard Renée give a faint sigh. "All right. I love you both."

"I love you too," Bella said while I leaned my head on her shoulder and said, "Bye mommy."

We sat there for a while, Bella resting her head on mine, both unmoving and quiet. I think five minutes had passed before I finally lifted my head from her shoulder and let out a sigh.

"I really don't want to go and do my homework, but I feel like I should so..." Crawling across the bed and books, I exited her room and entered my own. From the hall, I could hear the sound of the TV playing from downstairs. It sounded like some sports game and it took all I had not to go down there and join Charlie. Sitting down at my makeshift desk, it took me a while to finally start working on my homework. After about two hours, I gave up and crawled into bed, the patter of rain on the roof lulling me to sleep.

* * *

Authors Note:: Okay, guys, I can not thank you enough for all your kind words. I asked you to let me know if you wanted this to be a Jacob/oc story and you all went above and beyond! You told me what you wanted and why...and I just can't. Thank you all so much! One of you suggested it be an Edward/oc story so I think I might have to make one of those later, but for now, this story will be Jacob/oc. Another one of you brought up staying away from the whole Jacob/Bella/oc drama stuff and I can just say that there will be none of that nonsense. There will be drama but it will not surround Jacob being obsessed with Bella. Oh, and Alex is a year younger than Bella so she is sixteen. Sorry I haven't really addressed it.


	5. Chapter Five: Confronting the Asshat

**Chapter Five: Confronting the Asshat**

The next morning found Bella and I at the kitchen table, just the two of us. Charlie had already left for work maybe twenty minutes ago. Although she didn't say anything, I knew something was eating at Bella. I almost asked her what was wrong when I realized what it was.

"You know what, you can't just let people treat you like that, Bella. You need to start standing up for yourself." I said strongly, causing her to look up at me.

"I'm not like you, Alex. I don't feel comfortable getting in people's faces." Bella whined slightly, pushing her cereal around rather than eat it.

I pointed my piece of toast at her. "I never said you had to get in his face. All I'm saying is that when you see him today and he treats you like he did before, you call him out on it. Tell him you are a human being and you deserve to be treated like one."

Bella looked at me and I watched as her expression changed. For what was probably the first time in my life, I saw my sister look strong and confident.

"Okay," she said, nodding her head. Her voice even sounded stronger to me. "I'm going to confront him."

I smiled at her, proud. "Good for you. And if that doesn't work, we can always have dad arrest him!"

Fifteen minutes later we stood in the parking lot next to the school. A few spots over, the lunch table gang stood next to Tyler's van, laughing and eating what looked like licorice. I would have gone and stood by them but Bella needed me more. She held a book in front of her face but I knew she wasn't reading. Her eyes kept flickering over the top of it, searching the parking lot for Edward. I saw her bit her lip, something she usually only did when she was nervous.

"Be strong, you can do this." I muttered quietly so that only she could hear.

Her eyes moved from the entrance of the parking lot and turned to meet mine. She looked at me for a moment, took a deep breath, and nodded her head. She then turned her attention back to her book.

Not even two minutes later the Cullen's arrived in the parking lot driving an expensive looking red convertible and a huge ass jeep. They parked a few spaces across from us and got out in the graceful way only they seemed capable of achieving. When I saw Edward wasn't with them, I felt a small twinge of disappointment. I had kinda been looking forward to seeing my sister confront him.

"Yo, Bella!" Tyler suddenly yelled, throwing a piece of licorice at my sister's head.

She flashed them a shy smile before waving her book to show them that she was reading. I chuckled before pushing away from the truck and walking over to the group. If the jerk wasn't at school, I might as well socialize with possible friends.

"Didn't your mom tell you it was rude to throw things at people?" I asked, smirking slightly as I grabbed a piece of red rope candy and took a bite.

Tyler looked at me for a moment before smiling and laughing. I joked around with the gang until the bell rang. Leslie met me at my locker and the two of us walked to our first classes together.

The rest of the day played out similar to the one before, but slightly better. I didn't get that many stares from my fellow students, but there still was some whispering. I ate lunch with Bella and the others and passed notes with Leslie in Spanish class. When school was over, I drove with Bella to the supermarket where we bought enough food to keep the kitchen full for at least the next couple of weeks. And after a quiet dinner at home I went upstairs and did my homework before going to bed.

* * *

Edward was a no show the next day as well, and the day after that. I could tell that Bella was a bit disappointed at first, she looked for him everywhere even though we would watch his siblings arrive without him. At lunch, it wasn't until she saw that he wasn't sitting with the others that she would join the others and me in whatever conversation that we were having.

On Wednesday, Coach Clapp had both Bella and I participate in class. We were still playing volleyball and my sister and I were placed on the same team. The other team realized that Bella was completely rotten at the sport and tried to use that to their advantage. Unlucky for them, I was familiar with my sister's crappy athletic ability and told our team that I would cover her, which I did.

On Friday, Mike announced to our lunch table that he was planning a trip to La Push beach in two weeks. I felt conflicted with this news. I was happy because these people liked me and my sister enough to invite us but disappointed because beaches were supposed to be nice and warm not cold like it most likely was going to be. Mike was excited that we were both going to go, he kept telling us how much fun it was going to be during gym. He had also decided to give us nicknames. I was Phoenix and Bella was Arizona.

He was really proud of them.

The weekend was pretty uneventful. Charlie worked most of the time and Bella cleaned the house. She tried to get me to help but I kept finding ways to get out of it, mainly saying that I wanted to get caught up in my classes. Everything was pretty boring until I called Leslie and she invited me over to her house.

Borrowing the truck, I parked it in front of her house and walked up to the door. I stood there awkwardly for a moment before finally drawing the courage to knock on the door. I wasn't sure why, but I have always had this irrational fear of going over to someone else's house the first couple of times. I guess I just sort of felt like I was bothering them or something.

I was surprised when the receptionist from school opened the door, the same smile from when I first met her on her face. I didn't know she was Leslie's mom. But now that I really looked at her, I could see that they had the same nose and, of course, hair.

"Oh, Alexandra, dear. Please, come in."

"Thank you," I said politely, stepping into the house and taking my wet shoes off.

Leslie came down the staircase not to far from the door, her typical smirk on her face. Without saying a word, she nodded for me to follow her so I did. Once up the stairs we turned to the right and walked into what could only be her room. The walls were covered with posters; so many that I could barely see that dark purple that I guessed was the wall color. Books, CD's, and movies were stacked everywhere while clothes covered the ground.

"Nice," I said, giving an approving nod as I continued to look around the room. It was a lot bigger than mine.

"My mom told me I should clean it but I figured you wouldn't mind." Leslie answered with a shrug, throwing herself on top of her black bedspread.

I shook my head. "You're right, I don't care." It was better than my room, which I was still setting up. Clothes and other crap covered the floor and drawings from when I was ten still hung on the wall. "So what do you wanna do?"

"I don't know. I figured we could watch a movie or something. My mom is going to get us a pizza." Leslie suggested.

"Sounds good to me."

We did end up watching a movie, some superhero one that I have never seen before. The guy was dressed all in black and spoke in a weird deep voice. Apparently it was one of Leslie's favorites because she couldn't believe I haven't seen it and insisted it be watched. It seemed a bit slow to me, but I watched it anyways, happy to be doing anything than sitting at home doing homework or cleaning.

* * *

"Alex, get up!" A voice cried desperately in my ear. I gave a mumbled reply before rolling over in my bed, snuggling deeper into my nice warm covers. "Alex! Alex, come on!"

"What!" I yelled back, turning over to gaze sleepily at Bella who was leaning over the bed. "What do you want?"

Bella scoffed and rolled her eyes at me. "You have to get up. We gotta go in, like, twenty minutes."

"Go where?" I asked, closing my eyes.

"School," Bella said as though it was obvious. "And here I thought I wouldn't have to wake you up anymore."

I sat there for a moment before my eyes snapped open. It was Monday. We had school, and I was still messy haired and wearing my pajamas. Throwing back the covers, I moved across the room to my dresser where I started rifling around to find some clothes. Behind me, I could hear the soft sound of my sisters laughter. I would have told her to stop if I wasn't in such a hurry to get ready.

Throwing on a pair of jeans I picked up off the floor, I pulled a sweater over my head before exiting the room and heading into the bathroom. Quickly I washed my face before brushing my teeth and combing my hair. Once that was done I went back to my now empty room, Bella must have left to finish getting ready herself, and applied a small amount of make-up. Not happy with my hair I threw it up in a bun and added a headband. Lastly, I shoved my feet into a pair of boots before stuffing all my books and homework into my backpack and heading downstairs.

"Okay, I'm ready," I said, walking into the kitchen where I found a seated Bella waiting.

She smiled at me before pushing herself and leading the way outside.

"Dad, we can drive ourselves to school." Bella insisted as Charlie hopped out of our truck. As soon as the words left her mouth, she hit a patch of ice and went down. Because I was standing right next to her, she grabbed my arm in an attempt to steady herself but ended up bringing me down with her instead.

"You okay, Bells?" Charlie asked, running to our aid, "What about you, Lex?"

"I'm okay dad." I assured, allowing him to help me back to my feet.

"Ice doesn't help the uncoordinated," Bella said as she was helped up as well.

Charlie led us over to the truck, "That's why I got some new tires put on the truck. The old ones were looking pretty bald."

Bella and I both looked down at the truck and saw that there was indeed a set of four new tires. Our attention was brought back to Charlie when he told us he might be late for dinner.

"A security guard at the Grisham Mill got killed by some kind of animal," he explained.

"An animal?" Bella asked. Her and I both shared a confused look.

Charlie looked at us both. "You're not in Phoenix any more, girls," he said matter of factually. "Anyway, they've been hunting it for a week now with no luck. Thought I'd lend a hand."

I nodded my head. "Just be careful, okay," I said, not wanting him to get hurt.

Charlie went back to his awkward self, looking at me uncomfortably for a moment before saying, "Always am."

He looked at us for a moment, like he wanted to say something else but seems to decide against it as he got into his cruiser and drove off. We watched him go before turning back to the tires on the truck.

"Well that was nice of him." I commented, kicking one of the tires with my boot.

"Yeah, it was." Bella agreed, a small smile forming on her lips.

Slowly, little white flakes started to fall from the sky causing Bella and I to look up. I held out a hand and caught one of the balls of fluff on my palm, watching as it melted on contact.

"Is this… snow?" I wondered aloud. I haven't been around actually snow since visiting Forks when I was really little and that was so long ago that I couldn't really remember it. In Arizona, you only ever really saw it on the TV.

Next to me, Bella groaned before opening the driver's side door. "I think it is. Hopefully it will stop soon."

But it didn't stop. By the time Bella and I had made it to school, the stuff was coming down hard and fast leaving small little piles on the grass and on the truck. Pulling into the parking lot, we could see people throwing it around, laughing while they did so. Bella ran into the school quickly to avoid the loose snow while I walked slower, watching everyone. When it came time for lunch, the snow had fallen enough for a proper snow fight and Mike was going to take advantage of it.

"After school in the parking lot. There's going to be this huge snow war," he explained excitedly.

We all smiled at him. This was going to be my first ever snowball fight and I couldn't wait.

"Bella, are you okay?" Jessica asked, bringing my attention to my sister. "You look a bit sick."

"Yeah, I'm not feeling to good." Bella admitted.

I watched as she quickly glanced over to the table in the corner. Following her gaze, I saw that Edward was back and looking in our direction.

"Do you want me to take you to the nurse?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. If she was trying to get out of going to Biology, I would help cover for her.

Again her eyes flickered over to the table. "No," she said quietly. "No, I think I'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" I didn't want her to feel like she had to for my sake. Even though I wanted her to stand up for herself I wasn't going to force her into an uncomfortable situation. There was a moment's pause before Bella nodded her head.

All throughout Spanish I was thinking about my sister. In my mind, I pictured her being bullied by that stupid Edward Cullen again and that didn't sit right with me. I was so focused on that that I didn't pay attention in class. The teacher seemed to notice because he asked me to stay back after class. I half listened as he blathered on about needing to pay attention more before nodding my head and asking if I could go so I wasn't late for my last class. He let me go, but had already wasted more than half of my passing time meaning I was going to be late for gym. To make matters worse, as I turned one of the corners, I saw Cullen walking swiftly away from Bella who stood still by some lockers.

_Did he just go all jerk-mode on Bella again?_

The thought cause my already frustrated brain to snap. Without thinking, I crossed my arms over my chest and stepped into his path.

"Hey, Asshat," I said in my most intimidating voice. "What's your problem?"

He looked down at me, a confused expression on his pretty face. "Excuse me?"

I acted as though he hadn't spoken. "Just leave my sister alone. She doesn't need jerks like you making things hard for her."

"I-" He started only to have me cut him off.

"Save it."

I didn't have time to say everything I wanted to so I stepped around him and started to make my way towards the gym. As I walked away, my legs felt like jelly and my arms shook slightly. I had no idea why.

When I finally got to gym I was seven minutes late. I told Coach Clapp I had been talking to my Spanish teacher and he seemed to buy it so that made me feel better. Bella gave me a puzzled look but didn't get a chance to ask me any questions as the volleyball games started up again. Mike was on our team today so he helped me cover Bella.

"So, Phoenix, why were you so late?" Mike asked as we walked over to the changing rooms after class.

Not wanting to talk about it with him, I just shrugged my shoulders and stuck to my previous lie. "I got held up in Spanish. Apparently I'm not paying enough attention in class or something." Wanting to get away from the subject, I brought up Mike's snow war.

"It is most definitely on," Mike said excitedly. "So what do you say, Phoenix, are you going to be on my team?"

A smirk pulled across my face. "Is Eric on your team?"

He seemed to get the idea, laughing at my expression and excited tone. "Nope."

"Then I'll meet you outside the locker rooms, teammate," I said, high-fiving him before hurrying into the changing room to get ready. Behind me, Bella let out a small groan.

* * *

Authors Note:: Authors Note:: Here's chapter five! Thank you **lostfeather1 **for reviewing the last chapter. Yeah, Alex is good at being the annoying younger sister so that's pretty much what she's going to be to Edward. Keep up the awesome reviews people and thank's for reading! :)


	6. Chapter Six: Are You Sure You're Okay?

**Chapter Six: Are You Sure You're Okay?**

I met Mike outside the gym, dressed and ready to go. We talked excitedly about the snowball fight all the way to the parking lot, Bella following slowly behind us.

"This is going to be so much fun. I'm going to hit Eric straight in the-" My words died in my throat as Mike pushed open the door and we saw what was outside.

Rain.

It didn't come down too hard, just hard enough to wash away most of the snow. Part of me wondered if this was punishment for me wanting to throw snowballs at creepy Eric's head. Or maybe because I had been also hoping to throw some snow at jerk-face Edward Cullen. Either way, my disappointment must have been clearly written on my face as Mike put an arm around my shoulder and gave me a one armed hug.

"Maybe next time, Phoenix." I could tell from his voice that he was sad about the rain as well.

Sighing, I bid him good-bye before Bella and I started picking our way across the parking lot.

"So the rain had to wash away the snow but it couldn't get rid of the ice?" I muttered angrily, clutching Bella's hand tightly as I momentarily lost my balance.

"I know you were looking forward to it, but I'm glad the snow is gone. You and Mike would probably have drawn a lot of attention and I would have been hit by default," Bella said, slipping a bit as well. I planted myself on the ground and helped her stay level. "But I agree with you about the ice."

Finally, we were able to make it to the truck, without one of us falling on our asses might I add. Walking around the front of the truck, I watched as Bella looked across the lot at Cullen's silver Volvo. He must have gotten to school after us because I didn't remember seeing him when we walked into the school. I watched him as well, waiting for an excuse to yell at him. School was over with; I had plenty of time to say what I really wanted to now.

"Come on, Bella, let's go home. I'm cold," I said, after a bit, turning away.

I was just about to open my door when I heard it, a loud high-pitched screeching sound. Turning my head in its direction, I saw that it was coming from Tyler's large black van. The very same van that was making its way towards our truck at an unbelievably fast pace. Being on the opposite side of the truck, I was safe.

But Bella wasn't.

"Bella!" I cried. It was the only thing I really had time to do as everything else happened so fast.

One second I could see Bella's head through the windows, the next there was a blur of white and she was gone. What followed after was a loud crunch sound. Almost like the sound an empty can makes when you crush it. Things were quiet for maybe a second before the on looking students started to scream and run towards the truck, some even yelled my sister's name.

I, myself, couldn't move. I was in shock. I didn't know if my sister was alive or dead and both thoughts scared the shit out of me. If she was alive, she would be broken and god only knew if she would recover. And if she was dead…

It wasn't until I heard a soft thud to my left that I seemed to snap out of my trance. Turning my head, I saw Edward crouched slightly by the bed of my truck. As he straightened up, his eyes met my wide blue one for a moment before he ran off. I let out the breath I had been holding shakily before slowly moving around to the other side of the truck.

"I've got 911 on the phone now." Some girl I've never met before informed me as I approached the other side of my truck. Pushing through the crowed of people, I saw my sister sitting on the ground with a stunned expression on her face. At the sight of her I couldn't help but let out a choked cry/ laugh. Out of nowhere I felt someone wrap their arms around me and pull me to them. Looking up, I saw that it was Mike. Turning into his chest I continued to laugh/ cry, not caring that I was crying in front of other people. I was too happy to see my big sister alive.

When two ambulances arrived it took six of the EMT's and two teachers to pull the two vehicles away enough to get at Bella. Although she insisted that she was fine, she was forced onto a stretcher and had a neck brace put on her. Tyler had the same thing done to him before he was driven off in one of the ambulances. I rode with Bella and held her hand all the way to the hospital, even though she continued to reassure me that she was fine.

When we got to our destination, I was forced to wait out in the waiting room while they examined Bella. I was sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs with my head in my hands when Charlie came bursting through the front doors.

"Alex!" He cried when he saw me. "What happened?"

I jumped up from my chair quickly and threw my arms around him. "It all happened so fast," was all I could manage to say, tears threatening to slip out again.

"Is your sister okay?" he asked, his arms awkwardly placed around me. This whole comforting thing was still new to him.

Slowly, I nodded my head. "I think so. I mean, she said she was. But they took her back and I don't know anything else."

I watched as a hard look came over Charlie's face. "Let's go find out."

Gently, he moved me so that I was tucked under one of his arms before starting towards the front desk. Flashing the receptionist his badge he demanded to be taken to his eldest daughter. The women nodded before leading us back towards the room where Bella was being kept.

Man, being Chief of Police sure had its perks.

"Bella," Charlie said as we walked through the doors to Bella's room. "You okay?" As we got closer he saw Tyler lying in the bed next to her. "You and I are gonna talk." He promised, using his authoritative voice.

"Dad, I'm fine," Bella said, drawing our attention over to her. "Calm down."

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I tried to stop," Tyler said, leaning forward slightly.

The look that crossed Bella's face told me this wasn't the first time she had heard this. "I told you, Tyler. It's okay."

"It sure as hell is not okay." Charlie interrupted.

"Dad, it wasn't his fault-" Bella insisted.

"We almost lost you, Bells," Charlie said sternly, "You could've died."

Again the tears threatened to fall but I bit the inside of my cheek to keep them from doing so.

"But I didn't die." Bella pointed out.

Frustrated, Charlie turned back to Tyler. "You can kiss your license goodbye."

Suddenly, the doors to the room opened and in walked the doctor. He looked so young and so very handsome, even with his tired looking eyes which had purple shading underneath them. There was no question that this was Dr. Cullen.

"I heard the Chief's daughter was here," he said in a light, musical voice.

"Hello, Dr. Cullen." Charlie greeted.

I had been right.

"Charlie," Dr. Cullen greeted in return before relieving the nurse checking Bella over, taking the chart from her, and turning to my sister. "So, Isabella…"

"Bella." Bella and I corrected at the same time.

Dr. Cullen turned to look at me before turning back to my sister. "Right, Bella." Gently, he starts feeling the back of her head. "You have a nice knot growing back there, but your x-rays show no indication of a concussion," he explained.

With this new information, Tyler leaned forward and repeated his apology. Not wanting to hear it, Charlie pulled the curtain separating the beds. He seemed to take the hint and was quiet.

"It would have been a lot worse if Edward hadn't knocked me out of the way," Bella informed.

"Edward?" Charlie asked. Confused, he turned to Dr. Cullen. "Your boy?"

I watched as the doctor avoided Charlie's question, looking down at his clipboard.

Bella seemed to notice as well and pressed the matter. "It was amazing, he got to me so fast. He was nowhere near me."

"She's right. One second Bella was about to be crushed by the van, and the next Edward was there to push her out of the way." I added even though I hadn't seen Edward until he had hopped over the side of our truck.

There was a small silence before Dr. Cullen looked up from his clipboard, a tight smile on his face.

"Sound to me like you were very lucky," was all he head before turning to dad. "Charlie."

Nodding his head to both Bella and I, he turned around and walked back out of the room, probably to visit another patient. The three of us followed soon after. Charlie paused halfway down the hallway to tell us that he had to sign go sign the release paperwork.

"Oh, and uh, you might want to call your mom."

The two of us looked at him.

"Did you tell her?" Bella asked, looking from Charlie, who just shrugged his shoulders, to me. "Uh, s-she's probably…. Just, uh…freaking out."

Pulling out her phone, she turned and started walk away.

"Hey, don't get mad at me," I said, following after her. "I would have stopped him if I had known. It must have been before he got to the hospital."

Together the two of us turned a corner only to quickly backtrack. Halfway down the next hallway stood Edward and Dr. Cullen with Rosalie, one of Edwards foster siblings. Carefully, we peaked around the corner to watch the three.

"This isn't just about you, it's about all of us." The pretty blonde was saying in a not so pretty tone. She sounded mad, like, seriously mad.

"What was I supposed to do, just let her die?" Edward asked, standing his ground.

Suddenly, Dr. Cullen looked up and saw Bella and I watching. "I think we should continue this conversation in my office."

I watched as Rosalie glared at Edward before she was led away by Dr. Cullen. Before I could even react, Bella was walking towards Edward. Surprised, I followed after her.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked. Edward nodded his head before leaning against the wall. "How… How did you get over to me so quickly?"

"I was standing right next to you, Bella," Edward said, a faint smile on his lips.

"No, you weren't." I jumped in, shaking my head. "I saw you. You were all the way across the parking lot standing next to your car with your siblings."

"No," he said slowly, in an almost joking tone. "I wasn't."

"Yes." Bella countered, "You were."

"You're confused. You hit your head." Edward insisted. He spoke to her like one would speak to a sick child.

"She might have, but I didn't. I saw you leave the accident scene. You were there when you hadn't been before," I said, glaring up at him.

"Plus, I know what I saw," Bella added.

Edward turned away from me and glared at her, the light air to his voice gone completely. "And what, exactly, was that?"

"You stopped that van. You pushed it away with your hand like it was nothing."

I snapped my head to look at Bella. "He did what?" I asked. I had been so focused on Bella that I hadn't even noticed what had happened to the van or truck.

"Nobody will believe that, you know," Edward said before Bella could answer me.

"We weren't going to tell anyone." Bella informed him, speaking for both of us. I was okay with it because I seriously had no intention on telling anyone what had happened. Even if we did, he was right. No one would believe us because it was just too weird.

"We just want to know the truth." This time I spoke for the both of us.

Edward's eyes flickered from Bella to me as he thought over our words. "Can't you just thank me and get over it?"

"Thank you," Bella said instantly.

Bella and I looked at him, determined not to be the first ones to look away.

"Neither of you are going to let this go, are you?" He asked.

"No." We answered at the same time.

"Well, then I hope you both enjoy disappointment," he muttered, shaking his head before turning on his heel and starting off in the direction Rosalie and Dr. Cullen had gone.

I watched him go for a moment before thinking of something.

"Hey, Cullen," I shouted, causing him to turn back and look at me. A glare was on his face, but that didn't change anything. "Thank you. For saving Bella." As the words left my lips, his expression softened just a bit. "And I'm sorry… for what I said before."

Turning back on my own heels, I started walking again.

"Why did you apologize to him?" Bella asked as she caught up with me, confused.

I bit my lip. "Um, I may have told him to stay away from you and called him a jerk… and an asshat."

Bella looked at me for a moment before the corners of her lips twitched up. "You called him an asshat?"

"I know it's not my best comeback, okay," I said with a sigh, covering my face with my hands.

The sound of Bella's laughter met my ears as her arm wrapped itself over my shoulders. "Oh, Alex."

As we both walked into the waiting room, we saw that just about everyone in town must have been waiting for us, or rather, Bella. My sister turned so red from embarrassment that she would have put a tomato to shame. Shaking my head, I led her over to Charlie who escorted us out of the hospital. The gang from the lunch table met us outside, I even saw Leslie amongst the group waiting, but we just waved sheepishly before getting into the cruiser. Because Cullen had sidetracked us, we had to wait until we got home to call mom.

Like Bella had predicted, she had been in hysterics and wanted to know exactly what had happened. It took us about ten minutes to calm her down enough to actually tell her what happened and another five just to convince her that we were both fine. I hadn't even been part of the thing and she was fussing over me.

We both talked to her for another hour after that before saying our goodnights. She had tried to get us to go back home, but we refused. Crawling into bed, I lay there exhausted. It didn't take long for my heavy eyes to close and for sleep to take me. It was such a deep sleep that I didn't even feel the eyes that watched me for half the night.

* * *

Authors Note:: Of all the chapters I have posted so far, this one is my favorite. I think you get a great look at how much Alex loves her sister. Plus I really like the ending. The response for the last chapter was amazing. Thank you so much to**Supernatural-Addict-Forever**, **lostfeather1**, and **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967** for the awesome reviews! Keep it up! We'll just have to wait and see if Jacob imprints on Alex ;) haha. And thank you to everyone else for favoriting, following, and reading! :)


	7. Chapter Seven: So Many Questions

**Chapter Seven: So Many Questions**

When morning came around, I got up earlier than usual (it was hard but somehow I managed) to check on Bella. I found her sitting up in her bed, a slightly confused yet almost frightened look on her face.

"Are you okay, Bells?" I asked, stepping into the room and sitting next to her on the bed.

"Yeah, I just had…this really strange dream," she said, not looking at me.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Slowly she turned her head to look at me before shaking her it slightly. "No, I don't really remember it."

I could tell that it was a lie; my sister had always been easy for me to read. But I didn't call her out on it. There was a time and a place for doing that and this was not one of them. Instead, I patted her hand gently before getting up.

"So, what do you want for breakfast, I'll bring it up for you." I told her, offering a smile. I was nowhere near as good of a cook as Bella, but that didn't mean I was as bad as mom. I could make eggs or pancakes just fine.

Bella looked at me, confused. "Don't you think we should be getting ready for school?"

I shook my head. "Nope, I thought it would be nice for the two of us to stay home for the day, give you a chance to rest up a bit after what happened. I'll bring you anything you want."

Well, that was the main reason. She had been through a lot so I figured I would be a nice sister and stay home with her to look after her. But there was also the fact that I really didn't want to go to school. I wanted to maybe do a bit of research on Mr. Cullen and see if I could find anything that explained how he had gotten to Bella so fast and saved her life. I figured it would be easy enough to get out of going, all I had to do was call the school and say that Bella wasn't feeling up to it after what had happened after yesterday.

"Alex, we have to go to school," Bella said.

"No we don't, I could call the school and we'll be set." I pulled my phone from my pocket and showed it to her. "I could do it right now if you want."

"No, Alex." Bella insisted. "Come on, we need to get ready."

I watched as she pushed herself from her bed, walked over to her closet, and began looking for something to wear. She pulled out a shirt and a pair of jeans before I thought of something to say.

"So you _want_ to face all the crazy people today?"

"Alex, I'm sure everything won't be too bad, I mean, no one got seriously hurt. What could they possibly talk about?"

I looked at her for a moment before shaking my head and walking out of the room to get dressed.

_Oh, Bella. You are going to regret going to school today_.

* * *

As soon as I parked the truck in a spot, people swarmed to us. They all asked Bella the same questions: if she was all right, if she needed help with anything, what was it like being in the hospital. It wasn't until I started pushing people out of the way to make a path that we were able to actually enter the school.

But it didn't stop there.

Tyler had decided he was going to join our lunch table and spent, at least, the first ten minutes apologizing over and over again. He even promised that he would make it up to her. Bella tried to calm him down by assuring him that he didn't have to worry and that she was fine but he didn't seem to get the hint. What I found funny was that Mike and Eric both sat quietly, matching unhappy expressions on their faces. It looked to me like Bella had added a new member to her fan club.

I couldn't enjoy it like I wanted to, though, because I couldn't get the thing with Edward out of my head. To make matters worse, he stopped looking over at our table and acknowledging Bella's existence in Biology. His family also acted like we didn't exist but they pretty much did that already so it didn't really shake me.

Other than that, nothing really happened. That is, not until Bella went on a field trip with her Biology class two weeks after the accident. I was sitting at my desk, listening to my iPod and doing homework when she walked into my room and threw herself down on my bed.

"Have fun on your field trip?" I asked, chuckling as I pulled my earphones out and turned in my seat. "I hope you did because not having the truck after school sucked."

Her trip was during the last half of the day, they all left after lunch. And because they didn't get back until well after school ended I had to be picked up by Charlie so that she could have a way to get home. It was pretty embarrassing.

"Edward talked to me," she said after a small pause and sigh.

"Wait, _what_?" I asked, wanting to make sure that I had heard that correctly.

"Just what I said, he talked to me."

"Wow." I couldn't come up with anything better to say. "Um, so what did he say?"

Another sigh escaped Bella's mouth as she pushed herself up so that she was now sitting on my bed. "He said that we shouldn't be friends."

I scoffed. "Seriously? He doesn't even look at either of us the past two weeks and then says that he doesn't want to be friends?"

This boy had some serious mood swings. Maybe his foster dad should look him over to make sure he was okay, maybe put him on some meds.

"Yeah. And then he tried to get me to believe that he doesn't regret saving me. I know he does. I could see it in his eyes."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that. Bella had made that comment so often that I probably could have said it with her. Although there was a possibility of it being true, I did not need to hear it three times a day.

"Well what did he say after that?"

Bella shook her head. "Nothing. He turned back to the bus's and pretty much left me standing there."

_He is such a dick!_

"I talked to his one sister though." Bella told me, drawing me away from my thoughts. "Not the blonde but that dark haired one, Alice."

"Oh really?" Neither of us had spoken to any of Edward's siblings. Heck, I never even saw them except for during lunch.

"Yeah, all she really did was say 'hi' to me, but she seemed nice."

"Huh."

Bella hung around in my room for a bit after that but we didn't really talk much. After a while, she kinda just got up from my bed and started to make her way to her own room when she stopped short.

"Oh, and if anyone asks, we're going to Jacksonville next month."

I gave her a confused look. "Since when are we going to Jacksonville?" This was new to me.

Bella cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Um, because Mike… He, uh, he asked me to prom."

Before I could stop myself, a loud burst of laughter erupted my mouth. I continued to laugh until my sides hurt. At first I thought it was a joke, but from her tone and the look she gave me when I started laughing told me it had been true.

"He asked you to prom and you told him we were going to Jacksonville," I said after I had stopped laughing.

"Well, it's not like I could actually go with him. You know I don't dance." Bella tried to defend herself.

I had to give her that, Bella had two left feet when it came to dancing. Not that I could really talk, I wasn't much better. Although I didn't trip over my feet like she did, I just looked like an idiot.

"Yeah, but it's still rude to say no." I pointed out.

"I know," Bella said, embarrassed. "But I really didn't want to get on Jess's bad side either."

That made sense. It was common knowledge that Jessica had a thing for Mike. If Bella had said yes, Jess probably would have killed her. She seemed like the type that would jump the gun if she didn't get her way. As the thought crossed my mind, I couldn't help but feel bad. Although Jessica was a bit self-centered and rude at times, she was still a pretty good friend.

"If anyone asks, I'll tell them we are going to Jacksonville," I promised.

"Thank you," Bella said, breathing a sigh of relief.

I nodded at her before she made her way out of my room. I remained looking at my door for a while before I finally turned back to my homework.

* * *

"Alex!" Jessica cried across the lunchroom as she and Bella walked through the doors. The suddenness of it scared the crap out of me, so much so that I almost dropped my tray.

"What?" I asked when the two joined me in line.

"You'll never believe what happened yesterday," she said excitedly.

"What?" I asked, even though I had a pretty good idea.

"Mike asked me to prom!"

"No way!"

Glade that she was happy, I jumped up and down a bit with her as a small form of celebration. Bella stood awkwardly to the side and watched us. When we were done, we finished getting food before going off to the table.

"Crap, I forgot my coke on the counter." I said as I sat my tray down in my spot. Grumbling, I went back for it. I had to wait behind a few people, but as soon as they left I grabbed my forgotten pop. Turning back around, I ran face into chest with none other than Edward Cullen.

"Sorry," I muttered before sidestepping him and taking a step towards my table. I didn't get any farther as he placed a cold hand on my shoulder. I looked at the pale white appendage for a moment before looking up at its owner, my eyebrows raised. "Can I help you?"

"Can I talk to you?" He asked, his voice light and musical.

Turning around, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Make it quick. But if it's about you not wanting to be friends then you can save it because Bella already told me."

That seemed to surprise him. For a second, I watched as the expression crossed his face before it became blank once more. "She told you that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, yeah," I said as though it was obvious. "We are sisters. We do talk to one another."

"No. I meant, she told you I didn't want to be friends?"

"Was that not what you said during your little field trip yesterday?" Bella had told me that was what he had said so I wanted to see if he would lie to me.

"Well, yes, but-"

I cut him off. "So then what's the issue?"

Without waiting for an answer, I turned around and walked swiftly over to the table.

"What did Cullen want?" Mike asked as I took my seat next to Bella.

"Nothing," was all I said before I started eating my food.

* * *

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly after that. We had started playing basketball in gym so that was probably a good thing. As we got into the truck, Edward walked in front of us on his way to his car. As he passed, I followed him with my eyes, unsure if I wanted to glare or smile at him. He was such an annoying and rude person, but so interesting at the same time. Bella started the engine as he got into his car and we ended up pulling out at the same time. Because he was two spots ahead of us, we were stuck behind him.

"Come on, Cullen. Move you're stupid shiny Volvo." I muttered impatiently.

"He's waiting for the others," Bella told me, pointing in the direction of the cafeteria.

"Well, couldn't he have waited for them in his parking spot?"

Before Bella had a chance to answer, there was a loud banging on my window. Clutching my hand to my chest, I looked over and saw Tyler standing there, a smile on his face.

"Holy shit dude, you about gave me a heart attack!" I complained after I had rolled down the window.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly before turning his attention to my sister. "I wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here."

Bella turned to glare out the windshield. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm stuck behind Cullen."

"That's okay." Tyler nodded his head understandingly, a sly smile stretching across his lips. "Will you go to prom with me?"

My eyes widened as I looked at him for a second before turning to Bella. She wore a similar expression.

"We're not going to be in town, Tyler." Bella pointed out.

"Mike told me you weren't. I was hoping you were just saying that to let him down easy," he said with a shrug.

Bella looked at me quickly for help. "I'm sorry, Tyler, but it's true. Maybe you could just buy Bella's lunch some time and we could call it fair?"

I had a feeling that this was his idea for making it up to Bella. It seemed like it would just be easier to give him a different idea seeing as there was no way Bella was going to go to Prom with him.

He stood there thoughtfully for a moment, thinking it over. Before he could agree or disagree to the suggestion, Cullen's family had gotten into the car and they were leaving. Wanting to get out of the awkward situation, Bella and I both said good-bye before driving away.

_Stupid Volvo driving, mood-swinging, beautiful Cullen._

I don't know why, but I just had a feeling that he had cut us off on purpose. Probably to get back at me for not letting him actually talk to me about what it was that he wanted today at lunch. Or there was the possibility that he just loved to make Bella's life miserable. Either way, he was an annoying jerk.

* * *

Authors Note:: Oh my god you guys, you are all so amazing! To all my amazing reviewers:**grapejuice101**,**lostfeather1**,**Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**, **Supernatural-Addict-Forever** x2, you guys rock! The wait for the Jacob/ Alex reunion is almost over, it happens next chapter! As for Edward creeping on the girls while they sleep... Alex is not going to be happy when she finds out. Anyway, keep up the amazing reviews! Thanks everyone else who has favorited, followed, and read this story! It means a lot to me. :)


	8. Chapter Eight: La Push

**Chapter Eight: La Push**

"We have a day people," Mike said excitedly as he sat down his tray, and took a seat on top of a nearby table. "It's happening this Saturday."

"What's happening this Saturday?" I asked, sliding into my seat, using a chair like a normal person.

In all the time I've known him, which wasn't really that long, I've never seen him this excited. I mean, he was usually very friendly and happy, but this was different. He was practically jumping up and down from excitement like a five-year-old on Christmas morning. I would have thought it was about getting a chance to finally have his snowball war, but I knew there wasn't any snow on the ground.

"My La Push trip, it's happening this weekend. The weather man said it's supposed to be sunny and nice."

"Yes!" Eric celebrated, doing so weird arm movements.

I was shaking my head at him and laughing when my sister walked over to the table. She looked at him too, wondering what was wrong with him now.

"Hey," he said, looking at her. "La Push, baby. You in?"

"Should I know what that means?" Bella asked.

It made sense that she didn't remember, even though Mike has been talking about this trip for at least two weeks now. She was always looking over at the table where Edward and his family sat. Personally, I think she was trying to meet Cullen's eye.

"Remember my trip to La Push beach, down on the Quileute rez," Mike explained, "We're going to go Saturday."

Bella nodded her head as though she remembered now, but I knew it was a lie. Mike smiled at her before putting some chips in his mouth.

Jessica looked at the two before turning to the blonde boy. "There's supposed to be a big swell coming in, right Mike?"

Mike nodded his head. I knew she was asking mainly so that he would look at her instead of Bella. Why couldn't he just wise up, go after Jess and leave my sister alone. I couldn't help but laugh when Eric started talking, pulling focus to him.

"I don't just surf the internet." For some reason, he thought it would be smart to stand up and hold his arms out like he was surfing. Mike copied him, standing on a chair before Tyler pulled him back down.

"Eric, you stood up once." Jessica pointed out, "On a foam board."

"There's whale watching, too," Angela added. "Come with us."

The four of them all looked at us. I nodded my head. "You can count me in."

That seemed to make them all happy as smiles appeared on all their faces, even Jessica cracked a smile. Honestly, I think she liked me better than my sister because Mike didn't look at me like he did Bella. To him, I was just a friend… Or maybe like a younger sister, I don't know. Either way, I wasn't a threat to her. We all turned to Bella then, waiting for her answer.

"La push, baby." Eric started saying. As though that was going to make her come. "It's _La Push_."

"Okay, I'll go if you just stop saying that." Bella agreed.

I guess it did make her come.

Bella went off to make herself a salad for lunch leaving the rest of us to talk about the details for the beach trip. The plan was to meet at Mike's parent's store around ten so that they could all carpool together. They were just trying to decide who should drive when movement caught my eye. Turning my head, I saw that Edward was getting up from his table and making his way over towards Bella.

"I'll be right back guys," I said before going to join my sister and Mr. Mood swing at the salad bar. "Well, well, well. If it isn't our friend who doesn't want to be friends but still acts like a friend because he won't leave us alone."

Bella looked at me, slightly confused by my words. Heck, I was a bit confused as well. And I was the one that said them! Edward was the only one who seemed to have been able to understand me.

"I only said it'd be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't wanna be."

"What does that mean?" Bella asked.

"It means if you're smart…you'd stay away from me."

I scoffed. "Buddy, you're the one who keeps coming up to us."

I could see from where I was standing that our conversation wasn't all that private. Although they couldn't hear what we were saying, both Edward's siblings and Bella and my friends were looking at us. Turning back to Edward, I saw that he was smirking at me. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

"Let's say, for argument's sake, that we're not smart." Bella started.

"Hey!" I interrupted, "Why do we have to pretend to be stupid for this? If he wants to be friends with us then he should tell us the truth."

I wasn't going to play dumb for nobody, not even hypothetically. I meant it. If Edward wanted to be our friend like he said he did, then he would stop avoiding us like he was and tell us the damn truth.

"I'd rather hear your theories," Edward said after a pause.

I let out a groan. "You are so annoying, you know that?"

"How about radioactive spiders?" Bella suggested, deciding to play into Edward's stupid guessing game. "Kryptonite?"

"You're talking about superheroes. What if I'm not the hero? What if I'm… the bad guy?"

Bella seemed surprised by that. I'll admit, it threw me off a bit, but not enough for me not to respond quickly.

"I've come to find that the villains are usually more interesting anyway."

I wish I had my phone ready so that I could have taken a picture of his face. He looked so surprised and confused. I couldn't help but feel proud at myself for it. He's been confusing me for so long now that it was nice to be able to turn the tables on him.

"Why don't we just…hang out?" Bella suggested suddenly. "Everybody's going to the beach this weekend. Come. I mean, have fun."

"Yeah, Eddie, come with us," I added. "Hell, you can even bring your family."

A small smile came over his face as he seemed to consider coming with us. "Which beach?"

"Um, La Push," Bella said. Instantly his smile disappeared. "Is there something wrong with that beach?"

"It's just a little crowded," was the only reason he gave before turning around and walking back to his family leaving Bella and I alone.

* * *

Waking up Saturday morning, I groaned and mumbled for at least five minutes after turning off my alarm before I finally pushed myself out of bed. Yawning, I shuffled out of my room and walked over to Bella's. Opening the door, I found her still asleep.

"Bella, wake up," I muttered, shaking her shoulder slightly. "We're going to the beach today."

She said something quietly, but I couldn't make out her words. I was still too tired. Walking out of her room, I made my way downstairs for some breakfast. I tried to be as quiet as I could in my zombie-like state as I poured myself a bowl of cereal. Halfway through my bowl, Bella came down to join me. I wondered if she had gotten much sleep, her eyes had faint dark smudges under them.

By the time I finished my breakfast I was more awake. Placing my dirty bowl in the sink, I made my way back upstairs to get ready for the beach trip. From my window, I could see that it wasn't raining, but that it wasn't all bright and sunny either. Thick clouds covered the sky giving everything a gray look to it. I pulled a tank top over my head before slipping my arms into a hooded sweater. If it warmed up like it was supposed too, I could always take it off. I paired this with some simple black jeans and my black high tops. Running a comb through my hair, I put on a black beanie before putting on makeup. Once that was finished, I walked into the bathroom where I brushed my teeth. Ready, I went back downstairs and waited for Bella to come back down.

"Why are you up and dressed so early?" Charlie asked as he came shuffling into the kitchen.

"Oh, I guess we forgot to tell you. A bunch of us are going to La Push today." I told him. "We're going to visit the beach."

He looked sleepily at me for a moment, I wondered if he heard even half of what I had said. Apparently he had because he told me to, "have fun" before making himself some cereal and going to eat in the living room. I was shaking my head at him, a smile on my face, when Bella came down the stairs.

"Ready to go?" She asked, grabbing her coat off the hanger.

"Yup." Getting up from the table, I grabbed Charlie's rain jacket (just in case) before following her out the door.

It took us about five minutes to get to Newtons' Olympic Outfitters. Pulling into the parking lot we saw both Mike and Jessica's cars waiting. Standing next to the cars were their owners as well as Angela and Tyler who must have gotten rides. Bella drove over and parked next to Mike.

"You both made it!" Mike greeted happily as we got out of the truck.

"We said we would." Bella pointed out, giving a weak smile.

I pointed my finger up at the sky. "I thought you said it was supposed to be sunny."

"Yeah, I guess the weatherman was wrong about that." Mike said sheepishly. "But at least it's not raining."

"Good point." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Anyway. We're just waiting for Eric and then we can go."

We waited for almost ten minutes. When Eric finally pulled into the lot, he apologized and started spouting off some excuse. Nobody really listened to him as we all piled into Mike's Suburban. While we waited, the air had grown slightly colder and the sky darker. We just wanted to get to the beach. When we arrived, we saw that we weren't the only ones that came to enjoy the 'nice' weather. Bella, Angela, and I sat in the car with the doors open while Mike, Tyler, Eric, and Jessica got ready to go surfing. Tyler finished first and headed out.

"I don't know if it's worth it anymore," Eric complained as the air got colder by the second.

"We came all the way out here," Jessica said, stepping into her pink and black wetsuit. "You guys are babies."

"Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if somebody would have shown up on time." I muttered, only loud enough so Angela and Bella could hear.

I was so glad that I had brought Charlie's coat with me. It was more of a rain slicker than anything so it wasn't that thick, but it was another layer so I wasn't complaining too much. Bella and I sat huddled together for warmth, a tub of licorice the only thing between us.

"So, I keep thinking Eric's going to ask me to prom, and then he just… doesn't." Angela told us. She had a blanket wrapped around her.

"You could ask him," Bella suggested. "Take control. You're a strong, independent woman."

"I am?"

"Of course you are, Angela," I said, smiling at her. "Rock that little weirdo's world."

My comment made her laugh, which in turn made me smile. "Thanks, Bella, Alex."

"Can you do me up?" Jessica asked, coming over to stand in front of Angela.

"Bella! Alex!" Someone cried happily, drawing everyone's attention to the beach where the voice had come from.

My smile widened as I saw Jacob walk over with a few other boys behind him. "Hey, Jacob." I greeted happily, giving him a small wave. Bella greeted him as well before introducing him to the group.

"So are you stalking us now, Black?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Hey, you're on my rez, remember?" He teased, squeezing in to sit next to me. "You surfing?"

I shook my head. "Nope, I don't surf. I'm going swimming instead." I said sarcastically, pointing at my bundled up self. Jake laughed and bumped shoulders with me before grabbing the licorice I was holding and taking a bite. I pretended to glare at him but it didn't seem like he cared, he just continued to eat it.

Because we were pretty much the same age, Jacob and I were always pushed together during Bella and mines visits to Forks while my sister was pushed together with Jacob's older sisters, Rebecca and Rachel. We played together while Billy and Charlie fished. It made me happy that we were still able to be comfortable with someone after so many years.

"You guys should keep Bella company," Jessica said teasingly, "Her date bailed."

Eric's head snapped up. "What date?"

I rolled my eyes. Angela really wanted to go to prom with him?

"She invited Edward."

Bella's face turned beet red. I shot a glare at Jessica.

"To be polite," Bella explained, looking down at her hands.

"I think it's nice she invited him. No one ever does." Angela piped in, defending Bella.

My respect for her skyrocketed, and it was already high. I was so happy that Bella and I had her as a friend. She was so sweet and kind as well as loyal. If she ever needed help with anything, like beating Eric up if he was too stupid not to go to prom with her, I would be there.

"Yeah, cause Cullen's a freak," Mike said, a displeased look on his face.

"You got that right," one of Jacob's friends said, causing all of us to look at him.

"You guys know him?" Bella questioned.

The boy who had spoken looked sharply at Bella before saying in a deep, cold voice, "The Cullen's don't come here."

The way he said it was in a sort of dismissive way that ended the conversation. But there was something else there; I just didn't know what it was. Next to me, Jacob was staring at his feet and chewing his licorice slowly. I turned to look at Bella and she gave me a look that told me she had heard it too, but was also confused. My mind became determined, I was going to find out why mystery seemed to come hand and hand with the Cullens.

* * *

Authors Note:: There you go guys, Alex and Jacob are together at last! And you get even more on Sunday :) Once again, thank you to my amazing reviewers: **grapejuice101**,**Supernatural-Addict-Forever**, **lostfeather1**,**WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx**, and **kodt24**. I'm so glade that you all are liking Alex and her personality. And thank you to everyone else who has favorited, followed, and read this story. You guys mean a lot to me too! :)


	9. Chapter Nine: Scary Stories

**Chapter Nine: Scary Stories**

Eric ended up just stepping into the water before turning around towards the van to change back into his warmer clothes. After that, he joined the rest of us in making a bonfire to help chase away some of the cold. It still wasn't raining though so that was a good thing. Bella, Jacob, and I sat close together and looked at the strange blue flames.

"Soo…" Jacob started, breaking the silence, "How do you guys like the truck?"

"I love it. It runs great," Bella said happily.

"But it's slow," he laughed.

I nudged him with my shoulder. "Hey, don't hate on our truck. He's got character."

"I just wouldn't push it over sixty." He laughed some more before holding up his hands in surrender at my warning look. "I'm just glad it's gone. Dad wouldn't let me fix up another car when we had a perfectly good one."

"You fix up cars?" I asked. In the back of my mind, I could remember him saying that he fixed up the truck when he and Billy had dropped it off.

"Yeah, when I have the time and parts. Right now I'm working on a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit," he told me.

Not knowing a lot about cars and whether or not that was a cool one, or whatever, I nodded my head. "Sounds cool."

Across from us, Angela and Eric sat close together talking. Every once and a while I could see Eric look up to eye Jacob; like he was worried he was going to steal Bella from him or something. He was such a dork. Angela seemed to notice we were in a break in our conversation and decided to capitalize on it.

"So, how do you guys know Jacob?" She asked, a genuine smile on her face telling us that she really wanted to know.

I slung an arm around his shoulders, which was kinda hard seeing as he was taller than me even when we were sitting. "Oh Jacob and I go way back. I used to get him to eat mud pies when we were really little."

"That was one time!" Jacob said defensively, making me laugh.

"Charlie and Jacob's dad are really good friends. We spent a lot of time with Jacob and his older sisters when we would visit." Bella told her seeing as I hadn't given her a real answer.

"That nice," Angela said. I could tell that she actually meant it.

I smiled back at her before getting an idea. I was going to help her with her little Eric problem by giving them some alone time.

Pushing myself up, I turned to face Jacob and Bella. "I need to move my legs around or else they are going to freeze and I'll be stuck here forever." As I spoke, I gave Bella a look before subtly nodding my head towards Angela and Eric. She seemed to get the idea because she nodded.

"Me too. I think a walk is a great Idea," she said, as she stood up too.

"Come on, Jacob," I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him up before the three of us walked off down the beach.

We walked for a bit, looking out at the water and the surfers before I decided to put phase two of my idea into action.

"So… What did your friend mean when he said 'the Cullens don't come here'?" I asked, my hands balled up tight in Charlie's coat pockets.

"You caught that, huh?" He said before moving closer and speaking in a mock-whisper. "I'm not supposed to say anything."

Bella, having caught on, looked up at him with innocent eyes. "We can keep a secret."

I flashed him a pleading smile and fluttered my eyelashes. "Pretty please."

He laughed at us before shaking his head. "Really, it's just an old scary story."

"Well, we wanna know," Bella assured.

I gave him a puppy dog pout this time.

"Okay, I'll tell you if you stop looking at me like that," he said, chuckling.

I quickly wiped the expression from my face.

"So, did you know that the Quileute's are supposedly descended from wolves?"

"What?" Bella said, a surprised look on her face.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

Jacob chuckled. "Well, that's the legend of our tribe. It also says that the wolves are our brothers still which is why it's against tribal law to kill them." He seemed a bit self-conscious about it.

"That's really cool," I told him, grinning widely. I think that made him feel better because he smiled back at me.

"So what's the story about the Cullens?" Bella asked, interrupting our little moment.

Jacob shook his head slightly before turning to look at her. "Well, there are these stories about the cold ones."

Jacob told us all about how his ancestors were able to turn from man to wolf and only had one enemy, the cold ones. This enemy clan was caught one night hunting on the Quileute's land but was not harmed because they promised to be something different. They didn't kill humans but instead feasted on animals. A treaty was made, one that said they couldn't trespass on their lands and in return the Quileute's wouldn't expose them for who they really were.

When he was finished telling his story, Bella shook her head. "But how do the Cullen's fit in? Are they supposed to be the decedents of the cold ones your great-grandfather met?"

"No," he answered dramatically, "They're the _same_ ones."

Freeing my hands from my coat pockets, I pushed him hard in the shoulder. "Oh come on. How are they supposed to be the same ones that met your grandpa?" I asked. If it were true, it would make the Cullens at least a hundred years old.

Jacob staggered slightly but soon got his balance back. "Hey, that's just how the story goes," he defended.

"I know, but it just doesn't make sense," I told him.

Bella didn't seem to care about that fact. "What are the cold ones?"

Jacob smiled darkly at her. "Blood drinkers. You know, vampires."

Vampires? Could that be true? It would explain how Jacob's great-grandfather had known them. I shook my head. There was no way that they could be vampires. They didn't exist. They were just some made up monster that little kids dressed up as for Halloween. I needed time to process this information, but I couldn't do it here. I would have to wait until I was back at home. Until then, I would enjoy spending time with Jacob.

Before I could change the subject, a loud scream rang through the air before a laughing Angela ran past. Not too far behind was Eric, a long rope in his hand.

"A snake! It's a snake!" He cried between laughter. "Run it's a snake!"

The three of us watched them run down the beach.

"I wonder if he asked her to prom," I said out loud as I turned back around and continued walking, Jacob following.

Bella continued to watch for a moment before catching up with us.

"So is that why you wanted to go for a walk?" Jacob asked, smirking at me. "Trying to play matchmaker?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Maybe."

The two of us just joked around while Bella walked quietly beside us. I could tell she was still thinking about the story Jacob had told us and it made me wonder if she believed it or not. In the middle of the beach we came across a large tree resting on its side, its roots sticking out like a large set of fingers. Laughing, I had Jacob help me get onto it before I walked it like a balance beam. From the ground, Jacob threatened to grab my leg and knock me down but I called him on his bluff and dared him to do it. He just laughed as he continued to walk alongside me.

After a while I just sat down, Jacob leaning against the tree next to me, and we just talked. I asked him about his school and he asked me about how I was enjoying Forks. And for some reason, the question didn't seem annoying or tedious coming from him. Probably because he sounded like he actually cared about the answer instead of just asking because he felt like he had to. Then we talked about our friends. I told him all about Leslie as well as the gang from the lunch table while he told me about his two best friends Quil and Embry. He even told me that Embry was one of the boys with him and promised to introduce us.

"Hey, Phoenix! Arizona!" Mike called suddenly, causing me to look away from Jacob and in the direction of his voice. He was making his way down the beach, Jessica not that far behind.

"What?" I called, sliding down from the tree.

"It looks like rain so we're going to head out," Mike told me when he got closer.

I wondered when they had finished surfing. Both his and Jessica's hair were more or less dry. I also watched as Mike's eye flickered curiously at Jacob. The five of us walked back to where we had parked the car and found it all packed up and ready to go.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later?" I asked, turning to look at Jacob as the others made their way to the car.

"I guess so," Jacob said, rubbing the back of his head, "We should hang out sometime."

I nodded my head. "Definitely, I'll try to catch a ride with Charlie next time he heads up here. You can introduce me to your friends and show me your car."

A large smile stretched across Jacobs' face. "Okay, I'll see you then."

I waved goodbye before turning to head back over to the car where my friends were waiting impatiently. Hopping into the backseat, I shut the door and watched as his form grew smaller and smaller as we drove away.

* * *

When we got back to Mike's parent's store, it had started to rain. Moving quickly, we all jumped out of Mike's Suburban before running to our own cars. Bella and I said nothing to each other as I drove us home, both too lost in our own thoughts. Charlie seemed to be waiting for us as he was seated at the kitchen table when we walked through the door. Now that he was awake, he wanted to know how things had gone. He seemed happy when I told him we had run into Jake, even happier when I asked him to let me know the next time he was going to go up for a visit so that I could tag along.

Finally free from his questions, I ran up to my room while Bella got started on supper. Changing out of my wet clothes, I threw on some sweats and tied my hair up in a bun before sitting at my vanity/desk. Now was my chance to see if Jacob's 'scary' story was true. Opening my laptop, I got on to google and typed in the first thing that came to mind.

**Are vampires real?**

As soon as I hit enter I wanted to smack myself. Really? That was the best I could come up with? When the page loaded I saw that I wasn't going to find anything helpful. All the sites that came up seemed to be useless. But Wikipedia came up with the search so I clicked on that just for shits and giggles. When I didn't really find anything helpful, I decided to go a different route.

**Vampire myths and legends**

It was really hard to find information on vampires. With all the movies and TV shows that have been made with vampires as the main subject, it was hard to figure out what was real facts and what was just something that someone made up to make their movie better. When Bella called me down for dinner, I was beyond glad. I needed a chance to mentally sort through everything. That and I was dead hungry. Because Bella and I had gone off with Jake we didn't get a chance to eat any of the lunch that was brought to the beach.

Sitting down at the table, I piled a large helping of food on my plate before eating quickly. Charlie teased me for eating so fast, but I didn't really care. We went back and forth with each other for a bit before I finished and excused myself to do 'homework'.

I worked late into the night trying to find anything that I didn't already know about vampires. Anything that would tell me if Jacob's story was true and that the Cullen's were vampires. But I didn't find anything that I didn't already know. They were pale creatures that feasted on blood. All of the Cullen's were pale, but that didn't really mean anything because Bella and I were pretty pale as well, Bella more so than me. Some theories believed that vampires could have abnormal speed and strength, but I didn't know if I could use that against Edward. I've never seen him use an unusual amount of strength before and the speed thing… well, a lot of things happened fast during Bella's accident.

By two in the morning, I had had enough with researching and decided to call it quits for the night. Closing my computer, I fell into bed, too tired to even cover myself with my comforter.

* * *

When I woke up the next morning my cell phone told me it was 10:32. Groaning, I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed, my comforter falling from my shoulders. Yawning heavily, I pushed myself out of bed and started to make my way out of the room and downstairs for some food.

Pouring myself a bowl of cereal, I sat down at the table and looked at it sleepily for a few minutes before I actually started to eat. With my head supported by my left hand, I chewed slowly as I stared off into nothing. A couple minutes later I started to wake up more and was able to eat quicker. I was just washing the bowl out when I heard the front door open. Confused, I turned around to see Bella taking off her coat.

"Where have you been?" I asked as she started towards the stairs.

"Nowhere," she said, turning and looking at me.

I could see something was bothering her; I could read it on her face. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really?"

A sigh escaped her mouth. "I went for a walk." She told me before turning back around and heading up the stairs. There was a moment's pause before I heard her door shut.

* * *

Authors Note:: I went more with the book way of explaining things because I like that better than the movie. The very last section of this update is also reference from the book. Sorry that it's kinda bad, and that Alex doing research is a bit everywhere. I tried to to the research myself for a reference and it's really hard. A lot of what comes up is twilight related and that wouldn't be helpful. Anyway... thank you so much to the many people that reviewed the last chapter. There was so many of you that I won't write all of you out so that I can save space in this already growing authors note. Just know that it means a lot to me and I love you all for reviewing. As for your comments, I already have Alex's future planned out and I think some of you may be a bit surprised. As for her lines, I don't like it when OC's constantly take cannon lines so I'm going to try and give Alex her own at least 95% of the time. And it's going to be interesting when Alex finds out the Cullen's little secret. :)


	10. Chapter Ten: Shopping

**Chapter Ten: Shopping**

Monday morning I woke up to something strange leaking in through my bedroom window…sunlight. It warmed my face as I reached out my hand to turn off my phone alarm. I was so surprised that I jumped out of bed and looked out the window at the sky just to make sure I wasn't being tricked. But it was true. There, hanging in front of the clouds, was the sun.

"Halleluiah!" I cried happily.

Excited about the sun, I decided to dress for the occasion. I still wore my usual skinny jeans, but this time paired them with a cute short sleeve shirt. After playing with my hair a bit, I sectioned the top half off and added a bow to finish it off. Lastly, I applied my usual makeup before pushing my feet into my converse and heading down stairs. Eating a quick breakfast, I stayed downstairs until Bella came down. Something seemed to be bothering her because she didn't eat anything. When I asked her what was wrong, she just shrugged her shoulders before grabbing her coat and walking out the door. I followed quickly behind her.

* * *

When it came time for lunch Bella, Jessica, and I took our food outside like all the other students. But instead of eating, Jessica and I both just sat on top of the picnic table and soaked up the sun, occasionally picking at our food. Bella sat next to us on the bench, her eyes scanning the crowd of kids. I caught her doing this and couldn't help but roll my eyes. Couldn't she just go one day without worrying about stupid Cullen?

Jessica noticed Bella's wandering eyes as well. "He's not here."

"Well, where is he then?" I decided to ask. Although I didn't really enjoy Bella obsessing over Cullen, I would still help her out. She was my sister after all.

I caught Jessica looking at me from the corner of her eyes. "Whenever the weather's nice, the Cullen's disappear."

"What, do they just…ditch?" Bella asked.

"No, Dr. and Mrs. Cullen yank 'em out for hiking and camping and stuff," Jessica told us. "I tried that out on my parents. Now even close."

A smirk crossed my face. I wondered if Charlie would buy that. Probably not. What kind of Chief of Police would he be if he took his daughters out of school just to enjoy the nice weather?

Suddenly, Angela came running up to us, a large smile on her face. "I'm going to prom with Eric!"

"No way, Angela!" I beamed at her, pulling her into a hug.

"I just asked him, I took control!" She told us after I let go. She then sat down next to Bella and gave her a hug as well. "Are you sure you guys have to go out of town?"

I nodded my head sadly. "Unfortunately, we do. I wish I could see you both in your dresses."

Being a sophomore, I really didn't have to worry about prom. I was too young to go by myself and it was very unlikely that an upperclassman was going to ask me. That didn't really bother me anyway. Leslie and I, yes I told her about the lie, we were best friends after all, had made plans to hang out at my house that night. I was going to make her watch one of my favorite movies.

"Speaking of dresses," Jessica said, bumping shoulders with me, "We should go shopping in Port Angeles before all the good dresses get cleaned out."

"Port Angeles?" Bella asked. "Can I come with you guys?"

Angela scoffed good-naturedly. "Yeah, I need your opinion."

"Well, then I'm definitely coming. It might be the only chance I get to see your guy's dresses," I said happily. Plus, Bella voluntarily going dress shopping? I had to see that.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang and as we picked up our trays, we made plans to head up to Port Angeles tonight after school. Bella and I would run home quick to drop off our school stuff and Jessica would pick us up from there. Personally, I wasn't that big into shopping. I lacked the patients to try everything on and move from one store to the next. But that didn't stop me from looking forward to the end of school. I was excited to spend some more time with Angela and Jess. I mean, Jessica could be annoying and rude sometimes, but she could be really fun to be around as well. Plus, Mike wouldn't be there so she wouldn't have to fight with Bella for his attention.

When the final bell rang, I practically pulled Bella out of the school and out into the parking lot. Getting in the truck, we drove home and set our things in our rooms. I checked my reflection quickly in my mirror, making sure my hair still looked fine and my makeup wasn't all smudged. I was just fixing my bow when there was a honk from outside. Bella and I met outside our rooms and left the house together.

"I left a note for Charlie," Bella told me as we got into the backseat of Jessica's car.

"Good thinking, he would probably send out a search party or something."

The drive to Port Angeles was quick as Jessica drove a lot faster than Charlie probably would have liked or our old truck was capable of going. Jessica, Angela, and I talked about different dress styles and which colors would look the best on them to pass the time. Occasionally Bella would chime in, but mostly she just sat there looking out the window. When we finally got to the dress shop, we all made a beeline to the junior's section.

"Ohhh, I like this one," Jessica said right away, pulling a pretty pink dress from the rack.

"That's cool." Angela agreed, nodding her head.

Jessica smiled at the dress before holding it up against her chest. "I don't know about the one shoulder thing, though."

I looked at the dress. "Yeah, I don't think that's the style for you. But I love the color."

Jessica nodded her head slowly; a thoughtful look on her face. She then placed the dress back where she got it from and started looking at other pink dresses.

"I like this one," Angela said, turning to show us a pretty satin blue dress.

"That's really pretty," I told her, sitting down at the window seat with Bella while the two went off to the changing rooms.

For the next ten minutes, they would come back and forth to show us their dresses before finding a new one to try on. Bella would briefly look up from a piece of paper in her lap to look at the dresses, repeat the same comment she said about all the other dresses, and then look back down at whatever it was she was she had. I, on the other hand, tried to give more helpful comments. Like telling Jess that green was definitely not her color but that the style of dress looked amazing on her.

"Okay, Alex, you were totally right," Jessica said, a large grin on her face as she stepped out of the dressing room. "I totally rock this style, it makes my boobs look good."

I smiled at her. "I told you. Plus it's pink which is totally your color."

"What do you guys think? Is this it? Is this my color?" Angela asked as she too stepped out of the dressing room in a purple dress.

"Oh, Angela. You look beautiful." I told her. And she did. I thought the weaving at the top of the dress look interesting, the color looked nice on her, and it fit her like a glove.

Jessica looked her friend over quickly before nodding her head. "I like it. But I also liked that dusty rose one too."

As the two friends posed in front of the mirror, four older guys walked past the window. They started whistling and knocking on the window. One even called out, "nice" before they all walked away laughing.

"That is uncomfortable," Jessica said, her back turned to the window while Angela crossed her arms protectively over her chest.

"Oh, that's disgusting," Bella commented.

The three of us turned to look at her. That was the first time she had said anything that wasn't just "it looks good".

"So, Bella, what do you think?" Jessica asked, turning to face my sister.

"Looks good."

I groaned and leaned back in my seat.

"You said that about the last five dresses, though." Jessica pointed out. I could hear that she was annoyed but was still trying to be friendly.

Bella shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I thought they're all pretty good." She told them sheepishly.

Angela looked at her sympathetically, "You're not really into this, are you?"

Bella just shook her head before standing up. "I kinda wanna check out this one book store. Meet you guys at the restaurant?"

"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked, making a move to stand up too.

"No, that's okay," Bella told me before grabbing her purse and walking out of the dress shop. She waved awkwardly as she walked past the window.

A sigh escaped my mouth as I turned back to Jessica and Angela. "I'm really sorry about her."

Angela gave me a small smile. "It's okay, this isn't her thing."

I shook my head. "Shopping's not really my thing either, but I'm at least participating," I told her. "Honestly, it's about spending time with friends."

I loved my sister very much, but she could be really annoying sometimes. It wouldn't have killed her to at least seem interested in the dresses Angela and Jessica were trying on.

"You know, you're sister was right about one thing," Jessica said, looking at herself in the mirror once more. "This dress does look awesome."

I laughed at that.

"I'm going to need to find another dress," Angela said suddenly, turning to look from Jessica to me. "This one is waaay out of my price range."

I laughed again before going off to help her find a cheaper dress that still looked amazing. We ended up finding a really pretty white dress for her while Jess went with the hot pink one that made her boobs look good. Paying for the dresses, we made the short drive to the restaurant and made our way inside.

"Hello, ladies," The hostess greeted us, a large smile on her face. "Just the three of you tonight?"

"Um, there's actually going to be four," I told her.

She nodded her head. "Alright, I'll show you to your table and you can wait for your friend there."

We were led over to a table set up in the middle of the restaurant. The three of us sat down together, me sitting by myself so that Bella could sit next to me what she showed up, and started talking to pass the time. When the waiter came over, we all ordered something to drink to help tide us over. I got Bella water and figured if she wanted something else she could ask for it when she got here.

* * *

"Guys, I'm going to go and call Bella. See where she is," I said ten minutes later. The server had come by twice already to see if we were ready to order.

They both nodded their heads while I got up to go and make the call. Once outside, I keyed in her number only for it to ring and ring until I got her voicemail. I hung up right away before calling again. When I got her voicemail a second time, I decided to leave a message.

"Hey Bella, it's Alex. Just wondering where you are. Angela, Jessica, and I are waiting for you at the restaurant. Call me when you get this."

Ending the call, I walked back into the restaurant and took a seat.

"So where is she?" Jessica asked.

"I don't know. I got her voicemail. I'll try again in five minutes."

And I did. This time I decided just to call her from the table. When I got her voicemail again I left her another message similar to the first one. When the next five minutes came around, Angela and Jessica helped me call her. When neither of them got an answer I started to get really worried.

"Maybe we should go out and look for her," I suggested.

Angela reached across the table and took one of my hands in hers. "I'm sure she's fine." She told me, her voice calm.

"Yeah, besides. If we went out to look for her, she'd probably just show up at the restaurant and then it would be a big mess." Jessica pointed out.

Angela nodded her head. "She knows we were going to meet her here. We should give her more time."

I bit my lip. I didn't want to sit here and wait, I wanted to go out and look for my sister. My stupid clumsy sister who was probably wandering around lost. But I knew they both had some truth to their words so I just nodded my head. I called my sister one last time before Jessica talked us all into ordering our food. Well, Angela and Jessica ordered food. I was too busy worrying about Bella to eat.

A half hour later, with the food eaten, paid for, and still no sign of Bella, we decided to go out and look for her. Putting on our coats, we walked out of the front doors just as Bella was making her way up the walkway. At the sight of her, the tightness around my heart lessened and I ran down the steps before throwing my arms around her. With all my momentum, I almost pushed her off her feet.

"Where the _HELL_ have you been!"

"I'm sorry, I—" Bella tried to explain herself only for me to interrupt her.

"Do you understand how many messages we've left you? I've been worried sick." I told her as I let her go. By then, Jessica and Angela made their way down the steps and were standing next to me.

"Um, we waited for you, but we were starving, so we—" Jessica started only to be interrupted by Edward getting out of his car and coming to stand next to Bella.

"Sorry I kept Bella from dinner. We ran into each other and got talking."

I glared at him while Jessica and Angela smiled widely, easily falling for his charm.

"No—we totally understand. I mean, that happens, right?" Jessica managed to fumble out. "Um, we were…we were just leaving so…"

Her, Angela, and I walked past Bella and Edward and started walking towards Jessica's car.

"Um, Bella, you wanna-" Angela asked, gesturing towards the car while her eyes looked at Edward. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.

"I think I should make sure Bella gets something to eat," Edward told them before looking at Bella. "If you'd like. I'll drive you home myself." He moved so that he was now standing in front of the four of us.

Bella nodded and took a step towards him.

"That's so…thoughtful," Angela said, raising her eyebrows at Bella before turning back to Edward. "Maybe Alex should stay too? She didn't eat anything earlier, she was too worried about Bella."

I turned my glare from Edward to her and opened my mouth to disagree when Bella started speaking.

"Yeah, Alex, you should eat something." She gave me a look that told me she really didn't want me to leave her.

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out my nose, I started to nod my head. "Okay fine." There was no way in hell I was going to leave my sister alone again with a possible vampire.

* * *

Authors Note:: Well there you go, another chapter about Alex worrying about Bella. She's not a very good older sister is she? Anyway, thank you very much to the people that reviewed the previous chapter: **Dream Lighting**, **VividEmber**, **lostfeather1**,**kodt24**, and **Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967**! Alex is going to find out about their secret but it's going to be kind interesting how she processes everything and deals with it... at least I think it's going to be interesting. As for Alex and Rosalie, I have a few ideas for that, but they're still in development a bit so we'll have to see. Thanks for everyone who has favorited, followed, or just read this story. It means a lot! :)


	11. Chapter Eleven: You Can Do What Now

**Chapter Eleven: You Can Do What Now?**

Jessica and Angela gave the two of us giddy smiles before they left Bella and I alone with Edward. Bella walked next to him while I fell back a bit. I didn't know if he really was a vampire, but I wasn't going to let my guard down around him just in case. Even if he wasn't a vampire, there was something odd about him.

Edward held the door open for us and we were greeted by the same hostess. She seemed a bit surprised to see me again but quickly forgot about it as she looked at Edward. She led us over towards a table close to where I was sat before, but Edward stopped her and asked for something more private. I eyed him suspiciously as we were instead led to a small section of booths in the back corner. Bella and I slid into one side, me against the wall while Edward sat across from us… well, across from Bella really. I watched as he and Bella looked each other in the eyes until the server came out. It was a girl this time, a tall pretty girl with black hair pulled up into a cute bun.

"Hello, I'm Amber and I'll be serving you tonight. Can I start you off with something to drink?" She asked with a lot more warmth and energy than was really necessary.

"I'll have a Coke," I said, causing her to look away from Edward. She seemed a little unhappy about that but wrote down my drink order anyway.

"I'll have a Coke, too," Bella said, her eyes on the girl.

"Three Cokes."

"I'll be right back with those," Amber assured, flashing Edward a smile before walking off.

But Edward didn't see her smile. He was too busy looking at my sister. It was almost like he was waiting for something. Did he think she was going to grow a second head?

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Bella assured, the two of them never breaking eye contact.

I was confused. "Why wouldn't Bella be fine?"

The two of them finally looked away from one another and turned their attention to me.

"Nothing."

"I took care of it."

That only got me more interested and worried. "Tell. Me. What. Happened."

With a sigh, Bella told me how she had gotten mixed up with the frat boys from outside the dress store. They were just circling around her when Edward showed up and saved her. As she spoke, my face softened. Why is it that whenever I wanted to be mad and hate Edward, he did something that caused me to respect and like him? It was really annoying.

"Alright, I've got your drinks and some breadsticks for you," Amber said, placing down the stuff. Her eyes never left Edward as she did so. "Now are you ready to order?"

Edward nodded head before gesturing towards us. "Bella, Alex?"

Once again the girl unwillingly turned away from Edward to wait on my sister and me. After we had told her what we wanted, she turned hopefully back to Edward only to be dismissed. I watched as she fought to hide her disappointment as she turned to take our orders to the kitchen.

"You should drink something," Edward said, pushing Bella's drink closer to her.

Bella listened, practically chugging her Coke while I sipped mine. In seconds, she had hers finished. Edward pushed his untouched soda slowly towards her, a faint smile on his lips. She drank his more slowly. I watched as she began to shiver, the ice cold drink entering her system.

"Would you like my jacket?" Edward asked.

"No, I have my own…in Jessica's car," Bella said slowly.

Edward smiled again before shrugging off his jacket and getting up to hand it to her before returning to his seat. I fought the urge to smile as well. I would not fall for his stupid vampire charm! Not that I positive he was a vampire. My head was starting to hurt. It didn't help that Bella was talking about Edward's eye color and how they somehow tell her what mood he is going to be in. Honestly, I blocked her out until Amber came back with our food.

"Alright, one mushroom ravioli and one chicken alfredo," she announced, setting our meals in front of us.

Not feeling the need to witness her strike out once again with Edward, I didn't wait to start eating. I just picked up my fork and placed the deliciousness that was pasta and chicken into my mouth. A content moan bubbled up from my throat, not realizing until now how hungry I was.

"You're really not going to eat?" Bella asked from beside me.

"No," Edward said politely, "I'm on a special diet."

Not being able to control myself, I inserted myself into the conversation. "And which diet would that be?"

Edward just looked at me for a moment before smiling stiffly. "I'm sure you've never heard of it before," was all he said. I opened my mouth to speak again only to get interrupted by Bella.

"Okay, you've gotta give me some answers."

Okay, first of all, did she just interrupt me to save Edward's butt? Because if so, I was going to have to talk to her about how sisters really shouldn't do that to one another. And secondly, why did she ask that question singularly? I had questions too and I was sitting right next to her. So not cool Bella. After giving my sister a not happy look, I turned back to my food while Edward answered her in a very smart-ass way.

"Yes. No. To get to the other side…uh, 1.77245…"

"I don't need to know what the square root of pi is," Bella interrupted, an annoyed look on her face.

"I'm having dinner with a couple of nerds," I muttered to myself, reaching out to take a sip from my pop.

Edward acted as though I hadn't spoken. "You knew that?"

Bella didn't answer him, she just asked another question. "How did you know where I was?"

I looked up at that, interested peaked. All I had been told was that Edward had saved Bella from a bunch of lowlife dudes. Nobody ever told me just how Edward had found her.

"Where you stalking my sister?!" I asked, my voice rising slightly. I knew he was a creep. I knew it!

Edward turned to me. "I wasn't stalking Bella."

I rose slightly in my seat. "Then how did you know where she was?"

I gave him my most threatening look. Which was hard, let me tell you. I mean, you look at his perfect face and all you want to do is smile and give him anything and everything he asks for. Seriously. I thought this guy was a creep but couldn't help but feel a strange pull towards him, a respect for everything he has done to save my sister.

"I was keeping tabs on Jessica. Not very well, though. It took me a while to realize that you had left them to visit some bookstore," Edward told us slowly. "I drove around and around in the hopes of coming across you when I heard what those low life's were thinking."

Bella and I both sat there, opened mouth. When he talked about the stupid boys, I could see his calm front disappear for a moment and his anger slip through. He regained control quickly, though. But I had already seen what I needed to.

"I feel…very protective of you," Edward told Bella, looking her straight in the eyes before turning to me. "And you."

For once, Bella's brain processed that information faster than mine and spoke first. "Wait. You say you heard what they were thinking? So what, you…read minds?"

A smirk appeared on Edwards' face. "I can ready every mind in this room apart from yours"

I held a hand out to him as if to say 'hold up there mystery dude.' "What about me? Can you read my mind?" I didn't give him a chance to answer before adding, "What am I thinking right now?"

In my minds eye, I was picturing Edward dressed up in Belle's yellow ball gown, waltzing with his bear-sized brother who was dressed in a blue suit. His brother's hair was longer in my head, long enough that it was pulled back into a low ponytail.

Edward looked at me for a while before a smile appeared on his lips. "That's very cute, Alex. But I don't think yellow is my color…but I think Emmett would find that thought amusing."

My eyes went wide and I felt like I was going to crap my pants. Not because Edward had actually read my mind, I would deal with that later, but because he was going to tell his large older brother that I had pictured the two of them dancing like Beauty and the Beast. I mean, the guy was huge!

Edward laughed at my expression while Bella looked at us confused.

"Did you just read her mind?" She asked. I just nodded my head. "What are other people thinking?"

Edward looked around the restaurant for a second before listing off the thoughts of people around us, nodding his head toward them as he did so. "Work…sex…money…sex…sex…cat."

The last one was random enough to wake me up from my frozen position. When I saw that it was a big biker type dude, I started laughing.

Edward smiled too before turning back to Bella. "And then you…nothing. It's very frustrating."

"Is there something wrong with me?" Bella asked.

"I tell you I can read minds and you think there's something wrong with you?" Edward said, obviously amused by her.

A sudden thought came to mind. "Hang on. If you can read minds, then how come you were tracking Jessica's thoughts and not mine? You probably could have figured out Bella wasn't with us a whole lot faster."

Edward sighed at that. "While I can read your mind, Alex, it is very hard. It takes more time than usual and a lot more focus."

I nodded my head at that before turning back to my food while Edward and Bella returned their attention to one another. Not that I minded, I had a lot to think about now. Like the fact that Edward was a vampire. There was no other explanation. He could read minds for Christ sake! No normal human could do that.

_He can read my mind, though; I'll have to be careful._

I thought to myself before wanting to slap myself. Even though it was hard, he could still hear what I was thinking meaning he could now figure out I was on to him. And that was never good in movies. I could be so stupid sometimes.

I was so busy yelling at myself that I didn't notice Edwards' eyes flicker to me for half a second.

* * *

"Hey, Edward. I hate to be a backseat driver, but do you think you could slow down maybe just a little? I mean, the speed limits are there for a reason."

Once we had finished at the restaurant and gotten into the shiny Volvo, Edward wasted no time in putting his foot down on the gas pedal and speeding down the streets. He drove so fast that the passing trees outside didn't look like trees. Instead, it just looked like a big black wall of nothing. It didn't help when Bella pointed out that he was going 100.

"Relax," Edward told us. I could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Bella asked, her voice high.

"We're not going to crash."

"Really?" I asked. "Because it sure as hell seems like it. The only people that voluntarily drive this fast are stupid people and race car drives. And you know what happens to them, they crash a lot of the time!"

I was holding on for dear life in the back seat, my fingers clutching so tight to the leather I feared my fingernails would leave marks. I tried to brace myself whenever a turn came up, but I didn't do a very good job because it was hard to tell when they were coming on.

"But I always drive this fast," Edward complained. "I've never been in an accident and I've never gotten a speeding ticket." He said it like that should make us feel better.

It didn't.

"How the hell have you never gotten a speeding ticket?" I asked, well, more demanded.

"Built-in-radar detector," he said simply, tapping his head with one of his slim fingers.

Even though I sat behind her, I could tell that Bella was holding on as well. "Well, we're the daughters of a cop. We were raised to abide by traffic laws." Bella pointed out.

There was a sigh from Edward as he slowed his driving down. Not to the speed limit, but at least slower to the point where trees were looking like trees again. Because he drove double the speed that Jessica did we were able to make it into town in half the time. As soon as we reached the towns limits, Edward finally slowed down and followed the speed limit.

"Okay, I think I'm warm enough now," Bella said suddenly, reaching out to turn off the heater.

Edward reached for it as well and their hands touched. I watched as they both pulled away as though they had been shocked. Bella looked at him, a confused look on her face. I was about to ask what had happened when flashing blue and red lights caught my attention.

"Hey, what's going on at the station?" I asked, pointing out the window even though I was in the back and the other two couldn't see me.

"Charlie's still here," Bella said. The confusion in her voice told me I wasn't the only one that was wonder what was going on. Charlie was never out this late.

"Edward? Do you think you could stop in?"

Edward did as I asked and turned into the parking lot of the police station. "That's my father's car at the end. What's he doing here?"

Pulling into a parking spot right in front of the door we all got out of the car just as Dr. Cullen was exiting the building.

"Carlisle. What's going on?"

The doctor gave a sigh before looking at us mournfully. "Waylon Forge was found in the woods out near his place. I just examined the body."

"He died?" Bella asked, not being able to believe it. Carlisle just nodded his head.

"How did it happen?" I asked. It wasn't too often that people were just found dead in the woods. Not in Forks anyway.

"Animal attack," was the only explanation he gave. I watched as his eyes flickered to Edward. I too turned to Edward and saw that his face had darkened and a look of concentration warped his features. I wondered if he was reading Carlisle's mind, finding out something that the good doctor wasn't telling us.

Bella also noticed the exchange but didn't think about it as much as I did. "Was it the same kind of animal that killed the security guard down in Mason?"

Carlisle turned back to Bella for a moment and answered, "Most likely" before once again looking at Edward.

I couldn't help but wonder what I was missing and why they didn't just tell us. We were big girls, I'm sure we could handle it. Bella started to speak again only to be interrupted by Carlisle. He recommended that we go and see our dad who had been a good friend of the late Waylon. We did as he suggested and made our way towards the station. But at the door I stopped for a second to watch Carlisle and Edward. They seemed to have a quick conversation in hushed voices before turning and walking to their cars. It was all kind of suspicious, but I didn't think about it too hard. Charlie needed us right now. I would figure out the mystery that surrounded the Cullen's later.

* * *

Authors Note:: So kinda boring, but hopefully next chapter will make up for it. I'm really excited for that one. Thank you so much to **WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx**, **dream lighting**, **lostfeather**, **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**, and **kodt24 **reviewing. Alex isn't so much as judging the Cullen's, she just doesn't really trust them because of what she thinks them to be. You kind of see it more in the next chapter. And I will tell you that one of those mentioned is correct ;) Jacob and Alex will be together in chapter fourteen. Bella is boring, I'm trying to make her more interesting but it's not working very well. Anyway, thank you everyone else who has favorited or followed this story and thank you so much for reading! :)


	12. Chapter Twelve: We Need to Talk

**Chapter Twelve: We Need to Talk**

Inside the station was dark except for the small lamp at Charlie's desk and the flashing lights from outside. A few of the other officers nodded their heads sadly at us as we passed them on our way to our dad.

"Hey," Bella and I both say at the same time, our voices soft as we stood behind our dad.

"Hey," Charlie said back. His voice sounded tired and his face looked it. In front of him were many different maps, pictures, and statements about what had happened.

"Dad, we're really sorry," Bella said while I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

Charlie's hand slowly and awkwardly came to rest on my own, holding them lightly. His other hand slowly went out and blindly found one of Bella's. "Known him going on thirty years," He said sadly. "Don't worry, we're gonna... we're gonna find this thing."

He spoke fast as he let go of our hands and started to look around his desk before opening one of the drawers. Bella and I watched him confused. When he straightened up we saw that he was holding two pepper spray bottles.

"In the meantime…I want you both to start carrying these with you."

Bella and I both tried to get out of it, but each took a bottle for Charlie's sake. The three of us then walked out of the police station and started towards the cruiser.

* * *

When we got home, Bella and I separated from Charlie as he made his way towards his bedroom and us to ours. We were just at the top of the stairs when I made the sudden decision to speak with Bella and followed her into her room.

"Okay, we need to talk," I said, closing the door behind me.

"About what?" Bella asked, confused as to why I was in her room.

I took a seat at her desk. "About Edward. Something is just not right with that boy."

I watched as Bella expressed a few different emotions before sitting down on her bed. "Sure he's a bit strange but-"

"No, Bella. I mean, there is something _not right_ about that boy." I stressed, giving her a pleading look. "I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise you'll keep an open mind."

Bella gave me a cautious look before nodding her head. I took a deep breath before telling her everything. I spoke fast to keep her from interrupting me and watched her carefully to see how she reacted to everything.

"Ever since we went down to La Push and Jacob told us those stories I couldn't help but think that they might be true. I mean, yeah, it seems like just another stupid story. But after thinking about it and doing some research I think it might actually be true. The speed, the pale skin, the fact that he can read people's minds, it's the only thing that makes any sense at all. I think he might actually be a vampire. Bella, I think they're _all_ vampires."

My breath came heavy as I waited for her to say something. Would she actually believe me or would she think I was crazy? Because if anyone had said that to me I would think that they were crazy. But after seeing some of what Edward could do and listening to Jacob's story it was the only logical explanation to me.

"Alex," Bella started slowly after what felt like an hour-long pause, "I…I think you might be right."

Bending down, she grabbed her purse and pulled something out from it, a blue book. "I got this at that bookstore in Port Angeles. It's full of legends and stuff. I thought it might be able to tell me more about the 'cold ones.'" Standing, she walked over to me and showed me the book. Together we flipped through it in the hopes of finding something, hoping it would just jump out at us. And something did. A white mask that supposedly depicted a 'cold one.' Bella's head suddenly snapped up.

"I need to show you something," she said before leaning over, grabbing her computer, and clicking on a few things. When she was done, she flipped the laptop around so that I could see.

"I was doing my own research after the beach and came across this site. Tell me if anything jumps out at you."

I gave her a hesitant look before doing as she asked. And stuff did jump out at me. Undead. Speed. Strength. Everything that I had already found out for myself.

"This just adds strength to the information I already found out," I told her, shaking my head. I couldn't believe this was all fitting together.

Bella reached across me and pointed something out. Cold-skinned. "When we were in his car and I went to turn off the heater. Our hands touched and his were as cold as an icicle."

I ran my hands through my hair. "Bella, what are we going to do?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

I was scared. Up until now, it had all just been in my head. I could have been imagining it all because it was a small town and I was bored. But now the dots were connecting and Bella believed me too. It was all becoming real that that was frightening. What if he found out that we knew his secret and he killed us? I wasn't ready to die. I was only sixteen. I had barely lived my life.

"I don't know," Bella said, resting a hand on my shoulder.

* * *

The next morning was the first time since we arrived at Forks that I woke up feeling anything but well rested. I had tossed and turned, jumping every time I heard something outside my window because I thought it was Edward coming to kill me. When my alarm went off, I dragged myself out of bed and dressed quickly in jeans, a gray tank, and a green plaid shirt. My hair was a mess and there was no help fixing it so I just threw it up in a bun before sticking my feet in a pair of boots. Charlie had left for work an hour ago so Bella was the only one to greet me as I made my way into the kitchen.

"Did you get any sleep?" She asked.

"No," I mumbled, grabbing an apple before falling into a chair. "What about you?"

"A little."

I took a bite out of my apple. "I think we should avoid Cullen as much as possible until we figure something out," I told her.

I had been thinking about it for most of the night and it was the only thing that seemed to make sense. Bella nodded her head but said nothing. We finished our breakfast in peace before deciding to head to school. We would be a little early, but it was better than just sitting in silence.

When we got there we weren't the first. Because it was a relatively nice day, even though the sun was still covered by the clouds, the students were all hanging out on the grass by the lunchroom. Some boys kicked around a soccer ball while a group of girls sat at a picnic table talking. My sister and I stood by our truck, enjoying the nice morning. As I leaned against the passenger door, I closed my eyes and relaxed a bit.

"About time we had a nice day, huh, Bella," I commented only to not get an answer. Opening one of my eyes, I looked around for her only to see her walking away. "Where are you going?" I asked loudly.

Then I saw Edward following her and my heart stopped beating. What was she doing! Was she trying to get herself killed? It didn't help that they were heading off towards the woods behind the school. My hands went up in distress before they came down to clutch my head.

_What the __hell are you doing! What did I say! What did I say back at the house! Stay away from him!_

"Bella, I—I don't want—why are you doing this to me!" I asked, fighting back the desire to cry. I knew what I had to do, but it was against everything that my body was telling me.

Shaking my head and biting my lip, I slowly started to follow after the two who were already heading into the tree line. By the time I caught up to them, Bella was already confronting Edward.

"How long have you been seventeen?"

There was a pause before Edward answered her. "A while."

Although I wanted to just hide behind one of the trees, or better yet, go home, I made a wide loop around Edward and stood in front of Bella.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes flickering between her eyes and his. She could see that I was scared so she reached out and took one of my hands in both of hers. For what was probably the first time, she was the strong one while I was the one who needed support.

"We know what you are," she said. Although she is speaking to Edward, her eyes never left mine. We were in this together even though I wanted to run away screaming.

"Say it," Edward demands. "Out loud. Say it."

Bella and I squeezed each other's hands before speaking at the same time. "Vampire."

"Are you afraid?"

"Yes," I stutter out while Bella said, "No."

Edward scoffed. "You're sister is the smart one then. Ask me the most basic question: What do we eat?"

I gulped, waiting for him to attack us.

"You won't hurt me. Or her," Bella said softly with a faint confidence. "You're different"

_Are you insane! He's a vampire, Bella!_ I scream in my head. Edward must have heard me because his eyes turned and locked on with mine causing me to take a small step back. A pained, almost regretful, look flickered through his eyes for a moment before he grabbed Bella's arm and started to lead her away.

"Where are you taking her?" I asked, desperate and confused as I stumble off after them.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked more calmly.

"Up the mountain. Out of the cloudbank. You need to see what I look like in the sunlight," He answered, pulling Bella onto his back before turning back to face me. "I'll be right back for you,"

He told me before speeding off with my sister.

_Holy fuck! He took Bella! She's gone! What do I do?_

I brought my hands up to my face and pressed them to my cheeks. I wondered if I should go and get help. But who would believe me if I told them my sister was carried off by Cullen the vampire. Yeah, I could see that going down smoothly. But I also didn't want to sit around here waiting for him to come back either. Turning around, I started making my way back to the school when he appeared out of nowhere in front of me.

"Where are you going?" He questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"Um, school," I said nervously. "Ya know, I don't want to be late for class. So I'll just-"

I tried to step around him, but he stayed in front of me.

"Come on Alex, we both know you would do anything to get out of school," Edward chuckled slightly.

_I would take school over getting eaten by a vampire any day._

"I'm not going to hurt you, Alex," He told me softly, clearly having read my mind. "I promise."

In the back of my mind, I remembered him at dinner last night, telling Bella and I that he felt protective of us. And then there were the times he saved Bella, from the van and thugs. That was the only reason I started slowly nodding my head. If he wanted to kill us he probably would have already. I prayed that I could actually trust him as I stretched out my hand for him to take. It was hard and cold.

"I'm trusting you, Edward."

I was still scared, but there was something else as well, I just didn't know what it was. Carefully, he lifted me up onto his back like he had done with Bella before he started running.

* * *

Authors Note:: It's short I know, in fact, it's the shortest update so far, but it's the only place I could really feel comfortable stopping at. So there you have it, Bella and Alex told Edward that they know his secret. Thank you very much to **dream lighting**,**kodt24**, **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**, **lostfeather1**, and** Supernatural-Addict-Forever** for reviewing the last chapter. I've never really given any thought to whether Alex would get a power or not... I'd love to hear what you guys think it might be. :) Thank you to everyone else who has favorited or followed this story and to everyone for reading. It means a lot to me, like you guys have no idea!


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Everything Changes

**Chapter Thirteen: Everything Changes**

Riding on Edward's back while he ran was like riding a roller coaster…only, like, ten times faster and twenty times scarier. I held on for dear life as he zigged and zagged between the trees and headed up into the mountains. When we reached our destination, he let me off his back next to Bella before walking forward. My legs felt like jelly and weren't able to support my weight. Bella was there in seconds, grabbing my shoulders to make sure I didn't fall. I wonder if she had fallen and didn't want me to do the same. Dang, she was on a big sister roll today.

"Edward? Um…what are you doing?" I asked, watching as he started to unbutton his shirt.

"This is why we don't show ourselves in the sunlight," he said, ignoring me as he walked into a stream of sunlight. "People would know we're different. This is what I am."

Man, I am so glad that Bella was holding onto me because if she hadn't been, I would have fallen to the ground from laughing my ass off. Edward was sparkling. He was _sparkling_ in the light like a freakin disco ball! I bit my tongue as hard as I could to keep myself from laughing.

Next to me, Bella took in a deep breath. "It's like diamonds. You're…beautiful."

I couldn't control myself after that. I let go of Bella and started laughing, sinking down into a squatting position so I didn't get my pants dirty from the wet ground.

"This isn't funny, Alex. Or Beautiful, Bella," Edward said in disgust. "This is the skin of a killer. I've killed people."

He started to walk away from us, but we followed closely behind, me still shaking from laughter.

"I don't believe that," Bella told him with a shake of her head, a small, encouraging smile on her face.

I immediately stop laughing as Edward snapped. Without warning, he glared at us before jumping straight up into the air, disappearing. He reappeared seconds later next to a fallen tree, half of its roots sticking up in the air while the other half remained planted in the ground. Grabbing one of the airborne roots, he pulled the tree from the ground before throwing it across the field where it crashed against a wall of stone. He then crossed the distance between us and stood in front of Bella and I in the time it took me to blink.

"I'm the worlds most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in. My voice, my face, even my smell," he said. I had a feeling he was talking mainly to Bella. I'd always had a feeling that there was something off about him, something that kept me from falling under his spell like most girls did.

"There's no way for you to outrun me or fight me off," he continued, this time looking at me. I had already tried to run away, even though I already knew it would be useless. "I'm designed to be the perfect killer."

I put on a brave face, not wanting Edward to know how scared I was of him right now, conflicting emotions running through my head. He had said that he wanted to be our friend, but now he was telling us about he was a killer? Part of me wanted to be friends with him for some strange reason, but another part of me wanted to run away and tell him to leave me alone.

"I don't care," Bella stuttered out, standing firm.

"I've killed people," Edward pressed.

"It doesn't matter," Bella insisted.

Edward seemed stunned. He just stood there for a while, his mouth open slightly as he tried to figure out what to say.

"I wanted to kill you," he said finally, "I've never wanted a human's blood so much in my life. I'm dangerous."

The scene I watched next was a bit creepy and annoying. Bella tried to comfort Edward, letting him know that she trusted him. The two moved towards one another, Bella reaching her hand up to cup his face. That was when Edward seemed to wake up and ran away. Bella and I looked around for him and found him sitting in a low hanging branch of a tree.

"You…took me by surprise," he admitted. "I don't know how to…do this."

I turned to Bella. "You need to slow down. This has to be hard for him."

He had pretty much admitted to the fact that her blood called to him, tempted him with each pump of her heart. The least Bella could do was get her stupid hormones in check and give him some time. Although the fear was still there, I could feel it slipping away slowly until it was only a small thought at the back of my mind. I needed to know more about him and his kind; through understanding, I might be able to get over my fear. But I couldn't do that if Bella kept setting him off.

"Are you good?" I asked, wanting to make sure Edward had regained control of himself before Bella and I joined him by the tree. He nodded his head and Bella and I slowly made our way over to him, standing underneath him.

I looked up at him, my arm looped around Bella's. "So do you still kill people? You said you were a killer."

He shook his head. "No, me and my family, we're different from others of our kind. We only hunt animals. We've learned to control our thirst…" He leaned forward in the tree so that he was looking straight down at us. "But you—your scent, it's like a drug to me…you're like me own personal brand of heroin."

A look of understanding came over Bella's face. "I thought you hated me so much when we met."

Edward jumped out of the tree and stood in front of us, his eyes locked on Bella. "I did. For making me want you so badly. I'm still not sure I can control myself."

Once again stupid Bella tried to get close to Edward causing him to turn and walk away.

Seriously, I wanted to smack her. Didn't she realize that I had questions too? We followed him to a small formation of rocks. I leaned against one of the moss-covered stones while Bella went to stand by Edward.

"I wish I could understand this thing you see in me. You look at me with those eyes..." He turned around and backed Bella up until her back was against a rock, his arms resting on either side of her head. "I can't read your mind. You have to tell me what you're thinking."

"Now I'm afraid," She breathed.

"Good," Edward said, his voice was a mixture of relieved and heartbroken.

Bella noticed this and shook her head. "I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid you'll disappear, that I'll lose you."

There was a silence as Edward looked at her, a happy expression pulling his features. "You don't know how long I've waited for you."

I watched as they had this little moment, comparing their love to that of a lamb and a lion. I rolled my eyes before deciding to remind them both of my presence.

"Ugh, can someone get me out of here before I vomit from all this lovey-dovey crap?"

Bella shot me a not-so-friendly look while Edward lowered his head, a smile still on his lips. With a sigh, he turned towards me.

"You know, if I brought you back now you would have to back to school. It's not even time for lunch yet," he informed me.

How he knew what time it was, I had no idea. I just shook my head. "I don't care. I'll take school over this chick-flick moment any day."

With a chuckle, Edward pulled himself from the rock before walking towards me. He offered me a hand and I took it reluctantly so that he could help me onto his back. We ran down from the mountain and through the forest until we came to the small clearing where we had started. I could see my backpack sitting forgotten next to Bella's.

I took a step toward it before thinking of something. "Edward, can I ask you something?" I ask slowly, eyeing him carefully.

He had just been about to run back to my sister but instead turned to look at me. "What is it, Alex?"

I took a deep breath. "Those people you killed, did they deserve it?" It had been bugging me.

"They were all bad people," he said, nodding his head.

I nodded my head as well before asking one last question. "My blood… does it affect you the same way that Bella's does?"

There was a pause as he looked at me. It felt like an hour had passed before he finally answered.

"Yours is like a watered down version of Bella's. You smell good… but in such a way that is bearable."

A small smile played on my lips at that as I found something oddly comforting in that answer. He smiled back at me before turning around and disappearing, leaving me to walk back to school with a hundred different things buzzing in my mind.

* * *

Getting used to the fact that my sister was now dating a vampire was kinda hard. I mean, how are you supposed to react when you like the guy, but he could potentially snap and end up killing your sister and then you because you know too much about his kind? I could tell that his family didn't really know what to think either.

The next day Edward randomly showed up at our house just as I was finishing breakfast. Charlie had already left for work and Bella was upstairs grabbing her books and things. He honked the horn to signal his arrival, something that startled me because of the suddenness of it. Being downstairs, I went to the door and looked out at him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, wondering if he had changed his mind and was going to kill us. Did he need permission to enter our house? Was I safe?

"I'm not here to kill you, Alex," He chuckled, having read my mind. "I thought I would give you and Bella a ride to school."

I looked at him, eyebrows raised. "You're kidding, right? Thanks for the offer Edward, but you drive a little too fast and furious for my taste." That and because watching the two of them was kinda sickening. The way they looked at each other was like they had loved each other for years rather than a couple days.

He chuckled again just as Bella appeared over my shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, repeating my previous question.

"He's going to drive you to school," I said, turning my head to wink at her.

"What about you?"

I shook my head before reaching around her to grab my backpack. "I am going to follow you guys in the truck." I turned to Edward. "Or rather, I'm going to try and follow you guys in the truck."

When I walked in front of his car I saw Edward roll his eyes to which I stuck my tongue out at him. As I did so, a tightness clenched in my stomach, but I pushed it down. I would not let my fear for what he was control me.

"See you guys at school," I said as I got into the truck, throwing my backpack into the empty passenger seat. After waiting for Edward to pull out, I eased my old dinosaur down the driveway before following them.

I think Edward was mocking me because he drove slowly, at least five miles below the speed limit. I rode his ass, cursing him loudly in my mind while I glared at him. I knew he could hear me because of the cocky smile on his face from his rearview mirror. When we finally got to school, we drove around the parking lot until we came across two parking spots next to each other.

"I so hate you right now, Mr. Sparkle pants," I said as soon as I got out of the truck, standing on the seat so that I could speak over the roof of the truck.

Edward just laughed at me as he shut his door before walking over to open Bella's for her. With I huff, I jumped down from the seat and grabbed my backpack before shutting my own door. It closed with a familiar creak and slam. I didn't bother locking it, knowing that it wasn't anything worth stealing. Shouldering my backpack, I fell into step with Bella and Edward.

"You know everyone's staring?" Bella pointed out as we made our way through the crowd.

She was right; everyone was staring at us. Well, more so the two of them.

"It's like they've never seen people walking to school before," I said loudly so that the people around us could hear. Like, seriously, were we that entertaining?

"Not that guy," Edward said, nodding his head towards a random person. "Never mind, he just looked."

I looked across Bella and shook my head at him. He seemed to be enjoying this. We walked a couple more steps before he started chuckling.

"I'm breaking all the rules now anyways. Since I'm going to hell…" He muttered before draping his arm around Bella.

I rolled my eyes at him while shaking my head. Nearby, Edward's family sat in the fancy looking convertible with the blonde girl behind the wheel. All four of them were watching us walk into school, their eyes more focused on their brother and my sister than me. Rosalie was glaring daggers at the couple while the other three looked confused and weary, almost like me.

Suddenly, the small dark haired girl looked in my direction before smiling widely and waving to me. Unsure of what to do, I smiled slightly and waved back. I didn't want to be rude. Plus, she was looking at my like a close friend who hadn't seen me in years and was excited to see me again.

* * *

Authors Note:: Yeah, I like the ending of this chapter a whole lot better than the beginning of it. I have so much stuff that I want to put into it but have to make sure it's not to clunky so it doesn't really make it in. Maybe in the revision when I have the whole story done I'll be able to fit it in. Anyway! I would like to thank **WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx**,**Supernatural-Addict-Forever**, **lostfeather1**, **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**, and **kodt24** for reviewing the previous chapter. Yes I will be doing all four books so you don't have to worry guys, Alex is going to be there till the end. I'm even thinking of making a small, three chapter story of what happens during the summer between Twilight and New Moon. So let me know if you guys would like that. :) As for Alex's power, I think it would be cool for her to have an active power like telekinesis. Can you imagine the type of trouble she could cause? It would be amazing. As for her being able to shield her mind from Edward, I think that would defiantly be useful. I mean, it's kind of an invasion of privacy so it would defiantly help. Thanks everyone else who have favorited, followed, or are just reading this story. You're all awesome! :)


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Meeting the Family

**Chapter Fourteen: Meeting the Family**

The next two days went by in a blur. Bella spent a lot of her time with Edward, sitting alone with him at lunch while I was left to answer the unending questions of our friends. When school finally ended Friday, I was so thankful, more so than usual. Finally, I would be able to think over everything that had happened earlier in the week.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching puzzled as Bella opened the passenger door and hopped into the seat.

"Sitting?" She answered hesitantly, wondering if it had been a trick question.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Obviously. What I meant was, what are you doing in the truck? Isn't your boyfriend going to give you a ride home?"

He had yesterday and the day before, why wouldn't he do it now?

"No, Alice stopped him in the hall and said that she needed to talk to him. I told him I would just get a ride home with you."

"Okay," I said, shrugging my shoulders before starting the truck and pulling out of the parking spot.

The ride home was a quiet one, neither of us really having anything to say. When we pulled into the driveway, I got out and looked at the beat up thing. Because it was so old, it was hard to tell if it was dirty or just that rusty and faded.

"Do you think we should wash it?" I asked, turning my head slightly.

"Why not, it's nice enough out," Bella answered from the door.

She was right, it was nice out. Although the sun wasn't actually shining, there wasn't any rain and the temperature wasn't freezing. Walking into the house, we both sat down our school stuff before changing into old sweats and gathering the things we would need to do the task. Charlie got home just as we started on the back of the truck. He didn't say much as he walked past us on his way to the house, not that we would really hear him as we both had our ear buds in our ears.

"Sha-la-la-la-la-la don't be scared, you got the mood prepared, go on and kiss the girl!" I suddenly sang out loud, holding my sponge like a microphone.

As I opened my eyes to get back to work, I saw Edward jump down from the roof the truck and quickly grabbed my chest with the hand not holding the sponge.

"Jesus Christ, Edward!" I breathed, holding onto the truck for support. "You scared the shit out of me."

Bella chuckled, finding the scene to be funny as she pulled her headphones out of her ears. "Could you at least act human? We've got neighbors."

Edward just smirked at me before walking around Bella and leaning against the driver's side door of the truck. "I'm gonna take you to my place tomorrow." Almost as an afterthought, he leaned forward and fixed the dent in our truck.

"Thanks," Bella and I said at the same time.

Bella pushed some loose hair behind her head. "Wait, like with your family?"

Edward nodded his head. "Yeah." He then leaned over to look at me. "You're coming too. Alice's orders."

I looked at him confused. Why would his sister want me to come along while he introduced them to Bella? Oh god, I was going to be the third wheel again. That was going to be fun.

"What if they don't like me?" Bella asked, nervously.

Edward got a kick out of that. "So you're worried, not because you'll be in a house full of vampires but because you think they won't approve of you?"

Bella gave him a look. "I'm glad I amuse you."

I raised my hand and waved it a bit to get Edwards attention. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not sure how I feel about being in a house full of vampires."

That seemed to just make Edward laugh more before he suddenly stopped and turned towards the road.

"What is it?" Bella asked.

Edward turned back to look at her. "Complication. I'll pick you both up tomorrow."

I opened my mouth to complain but didn't get a chance as Edward sped off to his car and drove away. He slowed down for a second, looking at Billy and Jacob as they drove up in their truck before speeding down the street.

"Jacob!" I cried happily running over to meet him at the passenger side. "Hey, Billy!" I added, looking through the window and waving at the older man as well.

"Hey, Alex," Jacob said, smiling at me as he got out of the truck and moved to the back to get his dad's wheelchair.

"Did you guys come to visit your truck?" Bella asked.

"Looks good. You guys got that dent out," Jacob said, smiling at Bella before checking out the truck.

"Actually, we came to visit your flat-screen. First Mariners game of the season," Billy told us, causing my eyes to go wide.

"Are you serious? That's today?"

Let me tell you something, I love baseball. Back in Arizona I played on my school's girls' fast pitch team, not only because I was good at it but because it came with the added bonus of sharing a bus with the baseball team. One of the reason's Phil and I got along so well was because we bonded over the sport, often talking about different teams.

Billy nodded his head. "That and Jacob keeps bugging me about wanting to see you again."

My eyes flicker to Jacob for a second before I focus them on the ground, trying to fight a blush.

"Great, Dad. Thanks," Jacob muttered sarcastically. I could tell that he was a bit embarrassed by his dad's words.

"Just keepin it real, Son," Billy said, enjoying his son's discomfort.

Bella subtly bumped shoulders with me and shot me a smirk. In return, I shot her a glare. Thankfully, the awkwardness didn't last long as Charlie walked over carrying two six-packs of beer.

"Well done, Chief," Billy said, nodding his approval before holding up a brown paper bag from his lap. "Harry Clearwater's homemade fish fry."

He handed Jacob the bag before accepting the beer Charlie placed in his lap. The two then started to make their way towards the house. Bella, Jacob, and I followed silently behind, me bumping shoulders lightly with him as we walked.

"Any luck with that Waylon case?" Billy asked.

"Well, I don't think it was an animal that killed him," Charlie admitted, his voice sounding a bit tight. It usually did whenever he talked about it.

"Never thought it was," was all Billy said simply.

I didn't know what he was talking about, but clearly Charlie did. He quickly pulled back Billy's chair before pushing forward again, shaking the other man.

"Spread the word out at the rez, huh? Keep the kids out of the woods." Charlie's tone told me that he wasn't happy with Billy's previous comment. I wasn't even sure if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Will do," Billy muttered as he was spun around and pulled up the stairs. His eyes suddenly flickered from Bella's to mine. "Don't want no one else getting hurt, do we?"

I kept my face expressionless as I sensed Jacob looking at me. I didn't move until Charlie had gotten Billy inside the house, only then did the three of us climb the front steps and enter the house. Bella quickly excused herself to do homework while Charlie, Billy, and Jacob made their way to the living room. I looked down at the clothes I was wearing; my old sweats and shirt covered with water spots and decided that I should probably change. I told them I would be right back before walking quickly up the steps and entering my room where I picked some clothes off the floor and swapped them with what I had on now. It was just a pair of jeans and a sweater. After brushing through my hair, I left my room and returned down to the living room just as the first batter was stepping up to the plate.

"Excuse me," I muttered as I walked in front of Charlie to get to the couch where I plopped down next to Jacob.

"Here you go," he said, handing me a coke, his eyes never leaving the TV.

"Thank you," I replied, my eyes not leaving the screen either.

The next couple of hours were spent with the four of us screaming at the TV, passing around pretzels and chips, and running to the kitchen to get more pop and beer. When it finally ended, with the Mariners winning, Charlie and I walked with Billy and Jacob to their truck.

"Hey, you should text me some time," I said, leaning up against the passenger door. "It'll probably be easier to keep in touch rather than you coming down here or me going up there all the time."

Jacob smiled at me before nodding his head. "Yeah, give me your number."

The two of us quickly swapped cell phones to add our number before giving them back. Taking my phone, I smiled at him before going to stand by Charlie so they could leave. We waited for them to back out of the driveway before we headed back into the house.

* * *

"Okay, there is no way that you guys live here," I said as I got out of the car, my mouth open wide.

Edward just chuckled at me before leading us up to the front door, a hand gently rested on the small of Bella's back. He held the door open for us before helping Bella out of her jacket and resting it on a bench near the door. I removed my own jacket, revealing my jean button down shirt, and placed it next to my sister's.

"It's incredible. So light and open, you know," Bella commented.

It really was. Large windows made up whole walls while everything else was white and expertly decorated. Trees surrounded the whole house. It was almost like a small island in an ocean of green.

"What did you expect? Coffins and dungeons and moats?" Edward asked, amused.

"No, not the moats," Bella answered.

"I pictured something more gothic in my head," I added, "You know, gargoyles and lots of blacks and dark reds."

Edward just shook his head, a smile on his face, before leading us up a flight of stairs. The walls were covered in beautiful pieces of artwork. Faintly, the sound of music and clanging could be heard coming from a different room.

"This is the one place we don't have to hide," He told us, his smile suddenly widening. "I told them not to do this."

I looked at him confused but followed behind wordlessly as he led us into the kitchen where most of his family was. Three of them were preparing food while the blonde girl was holding a bowl with what looked like the makings of a salad inside. Everything smelt wonderful.

"Bella, Alex, we're making Italiano for you," The older, but still stunningly beautiful, women said. A warm smile was on her face as she stepped closer to us.

"Oh," Bella said awkwardly while I just stood there. I tried to offer a kind smile in return but couldn't bring myself to do it. I was literally too scared to really move.

"Bella, Alex, this is Esme, my mother for all intents and purposes," Edward introduced.

In the background, the large brother waved a big knife and smiled. I'm sure he was trying to be welcoming, but the gesture didn't help my fear at all. In fact, I think I almost wet myself.

Esme and Bella both greeted each other in Italian while I just stood there trying not to show them that I was shaking. Carlisle suddenly turned around and smiled as well, telling us that we had given them the chance to actually use the kitchen.

"I hope you're both hungry," Esme asked. I wondered if she was slightly nervous about meeting us as well.

"Yeah, absolutely," Bella lied, trying to be polite.

"They already ate," Edward informed seconds later.

Everyone seemed a little disappointed at that. Everyone, except for Rosalie, she broke the expensive looking glass bowl she was holding, sending glass and lettuce showering to the floor.

"Yeah…it's just because I know you guys—I know you guys don't eat," Bella stuttered out, not wanting them to feel bad.

"Of course, that was very considerate of you," Esme said understandingly, giving Bella and I a reassuring smile before shooting Rosalie a look.

There was then a little discussion, or more like argument, about how things could go bad and they could end up exposed. When it was brought up that we might be the meal I couldn't control the frightened gasp that passed my lips. Then Edward's siblings Alice and Jasper showed up and things got even more frightening. Jasper was supposedly the newest vegetarian vampire and didn't come too close in case he lost his cool around Bella and attacked us. By that point I was shaking so badly I thought my legs were going to give out from under me. And then Bella and Edward went off somewhere, leaving me alone with his family.

"Oh, the poor girl is shaking like a leaf," Esme pointed out once I was standing there by myself. "Don't worry, dear. We're not going to hurt you." She flashed me a kind, motherly smile and patted a hand gently against one of the stools by the counter. "Come and sit down."

Taking a deep breath, I slowly did what she asked and started towards the stool. With six pairs of eyes on me, vampire eyes, my legs felt like jelly. Honestly, I was waiting for them to fail me and cause me to land face first on the ground. But instead of that, they started to feel sturdier with each step I took. My hands also stopped shaking and my heart returned to a normal beat instead of feeling like it would pound out of my chest. By the time I plopped down on the seat, I was completely relaxed.

"Do you guys mind if I have some of that food you made?" I asked comfortably, "Bella wouldn't let me leave the house unless I ate something and that was just a granola bar."

"Oh course," Carlisle said, smiling as he, Esme, and Emmett went back to cooking. A few minutes later, a plate of food was placed in front of me as well as a fork and knife.

"Thank you."

Picking up the utensils, I forked a bit of pasta before placing it in my mouth, a content moan passing my lips.

"This is really good," I complimented before putting more food in my mouth.

They all chuckled before Alice turned to me. "Are you feeling better now?"

I nodded my head. "I am, thank you." And I was. No longer did I have this feeling of doom in my chest. I was thinking clearly and was able to see that the Cullen's really weren't going to hurt me.

"You're welcome," Jasper said, a smirk on his face.

I looked at him, confused before turning to the large male, Emmett, as he spoke.

"So I heard you were thinking about me and Edward dancing the other night."

My eyes opened wide and I tried not to choke on the food I had just been about to swallow. When I finally was able to get it down safely, I started fumbling out apologies. This only seemed to make him laugh.

"Hey, I wasn't the one in the dress was I?" He asked, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised.

I quickly shook my head. "No, Edward was wearing the dress."

"Then we're good," Emmett assured, reaching across the counter to smack me playfully in the shoulder.

Slowly, I began to smile. I really liked these people. I wondered if they liked me and if they would continue to like me after I killed Edward for telling his family about what I had been thinking about to see if he could really read minds.

* * *

Authors Note:: There you go guys, Jacob and Cullen family interaction for Alex. The next chapter will have even more Cullen family/ Alex bonding time. I would just like to ask that you all check out my profile as I've put up a poll about the in between summer stories so if you guys could all take that it would be awesome. I also posted a little update about it on my profile as well so if you could check that out to I would really appreciate it. On another note, we've reached over 50 reviews for this story! That's awesome. I would like to thank **dream lighting**, **WalkingInAWinterWonderlandxx**, **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**,**kodt2**, and **lostfeather1** for reviewing the last chapter. The reason I had had the idea for summer stories was so that Alex could build a better relationship with Jacob and the other wolves so that we didn't have to worry about that in New Moon. I also got the idea so that you all could be there for Alex's seventeenth birthday and see how everyone celebrates. Thanks everyone else who has favorited, followed, or just read this story. You guys are awesome too! :)


	15. Chapter Fifteen: You're a Stalker

**Chapter Fifteen: You're a stalker**

Once I finished eating, Carlisle and Esme went off somewhere together while Alice herded Jasper, Emmett, and me into the living room.

"I just know you have hundreds of questions so feel free to ask away!" she said excitedly, sitting down next to me with only a small space separating us.

My nerves slowly started to trickle back, but only a moment before they went away. She was right, I did have a lot of questions. And seeing as Edward was usually focused solely on Bella, they never got answered. Finally, after casting a quick glance at Jasper, I figured out my first questions.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but should you be this close to me? I would hate to make things uncomfortable for you."

"Honestly, your smell is a lot more barely than your sister's," Jasper told me. "It's strange…and a bit comforting."

I smiled at that, glad that I wasn't causing him too much discomfort. It also proved that what Edward had told me earlier that week was true. Part of me found it strange that Bella's scent was a lot stronger than mine, but another part was relieved because it meant that the likeliness of me getting eaten was a lot smaller than hers. It gave me an odd sense of reassurance.

"Okay, so can any of you read minds as well or is that just Edward?"

This time it was Alice who answered me with a shake of her head. "No, Edward is the only one who can read minds but he isn't the only one with a special talent. I can see the future while Jasper can control the emotions of those around him."

I quickly turned to look at Jasper once more. "Is that why you said 'you're welcome' when I said I was feeling better?"

He nodded his head, the same smirk from before stretching across his lips. "I thought I would help you out, you looked paler than us." Laughs from both him and Emmett followed his words.

"Well, thank you," I said, rolling my eyes before turning to Alice. "And you can see the future? What's that like?"

"Well, at times it can be a little annoying. The future changes all the time, you see. When someone changes their mind about something, a new future could unfold."

I nodded my head in understanding as I looked at Emmett. "What about you? Do you have a special gift?"

"I like to think my special gift is my unbelievable beauty."

"Really? I would have said it was your amazing humility," I joked, causing Alice and Jasper to laugh and Emmett to roll his eyes.

Alice gave me an example of her ability to see the future when asked, telling me that they would be playing baseball tomorrow because a storm was rolling in. She didn't bother inviting me; she just said that I was going to enjoy it. After that we went back and forth, me asking questions and them answering. I asked them about the myths given to us from books and movies and they told me that most of them were wrong.

"Okay, so you guys don't burn up in the sunlight, you don't sleep in coffins, you don't have to be invited into the house, and stakes and garlic don't affect you." I listed off, using my fingers to keep track of everything.

"That's right," Emmett confirmed, smirking at me from the other couch.

"Do you guys at least turn into bats?" I asked.

Alice looked confused. "Why would we turn into bats?"

I let off a small scoff. "Because it's cool, that's why!" I answered.

"You've seen way too many movies," Emmett said, causing me to stick my tongue out at him.

"Maybe so, but they make you guys seem so much cooler. I mean, is there anything that can hurt you guys?"

They were all quiet for a moment, looking at one another as if to see who was going to answer. But before any of them was given the chance, the large grandfather clock in the corner of the room chimed six times; letting us all know what time it was. My head snapped towards it, checking to make sure I had heard correct.

"Oh my god," I said, pushing myself up from the couch. "Bella and I have to meet Charlie at the diner in a half hour."

Although Bella made most of our meals, Saturday had become diner day. Although he never said anything about it, I knew that Charlie enjoyed our weekly family bonding moments; even if they weren't the most eventful things in the world. I was not going to be late. Standing up, I said goodbye to the trio before hurrying to collect my sister. She wasn't hard to find, I just had to follow the sound of a piano being played. I found her sitting next to Edward on the piano bench.

"That was beautiful," I complimented when Edward finished playing.

The two of them quickly turned to look at me, Bella flashing me a slightly annoyed look. She could be mad at me all she wanted just so long as we weren't late meeting Charlie.

"It's after six. We have to go or we'll be late meeting Charlie at the diner," I told her, detaching myself from the doorframe.

Edward nodded while Bella let out a small sigh before they both got up and joined me. Collecting our jackets from the bench by the front door we all walked outside and over to Edward's Volvo. He offered to drop us off right at the diner, but Bella refused saying that she didn't like riding in the cruiser. But I knew better, I knew it was because she hadn't told Charlie how we were going to be spending our day.

Once home, the two of us quickly jumped out of Edwards' car before hopping into the truck and heading towards the diner. We were a few minutes late, but I guess I would have to live with that. As we got out, Mike walked over to us, his usually large smile in place.

_Good thing we didn't have Edward drop us off here._

"Phoenix! Arizona! Yo, what's happening?"

I smiled politely at him though I wasn't really in the mood. "Hey, Mike."

We tried to walk around him to get inside the diner, but he blocked our path. "So, you and Cullen, huh? That's… I don't like it. I mean, you know, he looks at you like you're something to eat."

Bella just looked at him before shaking her head and walking into the diner. I continued to stand there awkwardly for a moment before following her. We took our usual seats next to Charlie just as Cora came over with our food.

"I hope you don't mind, I ordered for both of you," He said, setting down the paper.

He had ordered me my usual cheeseburger so I didn't mind, just smiled and thanked him. He had gotten Bella a salad, which was fine seeing as she was a vegetarian. Overall, I think he did a pretty good job; he was paying attention to us, learning the small details of our lives.

"You should try ordering a salad for yourself next time. Cut back on the steak," Bella teased, picking up her fork and placing a napkin in her lap.

"Hey, I'm as healthy as a horse," Charlie commented.

"Sure you are dad," I said jokingly, patting him gently on the arm.

Reaching over towards the center of the table, I grabbed the mustard and put in on my burger as well as a small section of my plate before dipping a fry in it. I preferred mustard to ketchup; I was just weird like that. Next to me, Cora shakily cleared her throat to let us know she was still standing there.

"Uh, say Chief, boys want to know. Did you find anything down by Queets River today?"

I leaned back in the chair a bit to look at the group of older gentleman seated behind her. They had gone quiet and were all looking over at us. I turned to Charlie and waited for his answer as I had forgotten he had told us he was going to be leading a search party and was curious as to what they might have found.

"We only found a bare human footprint," Charlie told us after a sigh. "But it looks like whoever that is, is heading east, so Kitsap County Sheriff's gonna take over from here."

I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible, my eyes flickering quickly towards Bella. She returned my look, letting me know that she was thinking the same thing.

"I just hope they catch him fast," Cora whispered before going off to help someone else.

There was an awkward silence as Bella and I started picking at our food, me another fry and her a peapod.

"Looks like your friends are flagging you," Charlie pointed out, nodding his head towards the window behind Bella. We both turned to look and were met with the image of Mike shaking his butt. I quickly started laughing while Bella turned back around, a blush covering her cheeks.

"It's okay if you wanna go join them. I'm just gonna turn in early anyway," Charlie told us.

"Um, I think I'll pass," I said, rolling my eyes at their stupid boy behavior.

"I think I'm going to turn in early too," Bella added, turning her attention to her salad.

Charlie sat down his fork and looked at the two of us. "Girls, it's a Saturday night. Go out. It looks like the Newton boy's got a big smile for you, Bella."

"Yeah, he's a good buddy," was all Bella said.

There was a sigh from Charlie as he turned to me. "What about you?"

I shook my head. "Mikes not my type." It didn't even matter that he was more into Bella than me. He was just too nice. A girl needs at least a _little_ danger in her life.

"None of the boys in town interest either of you."

An image of a boy with long black hair and a cute grin flashed in front of my mind before I quickly shook it away.

"Dad, are we really going to talk boys?" Bella asked, smirking slightly at him.

"I guess not."

"Good, leave the boy talk to mom," I said, chuckling slightly.

There was a small silence before Charlie let out a sigh. "I just feel like I leave you two alone too much. You should be around people."

Bella gave him a warm smile. "I've never minded being alone. Guess I'm a lot like my dad that way."

I watched as a small smile formed on Charlie's lips at the comment before we fell into our usual dinner routine. As soon as we finished our food, Cora brought out a large piece of berry cobbler along with three forks. Each of us got about three large bites before it was finished and we were heading home.

* * *

Night came quickly and found me sitting next to Bella on her bed, her phone held out so we could both speak to our mother who was on speaker. We filled her in on everything that was going on with us and then listened as she told us about her and Phil.

"Phil's working so hard. We're looking around for a house to rent, in case it becomes permanent. You'd love it in Jacksonville, babies." She sounded so happy and you could hear the faint sound of batting practice in the background.

"Yeah? I'm really liking Forks," Bella told her.

"What?"

"Mom, Forks really isn't that bad," I told her, not that that was a big surprise. Out of the two of us, I had always been the one that enjoyed Forks. Renée decided to comment on that.

"Something big must have happened for Bella to like Forks," She said, a slight tease in her voice. "Could it be a boy perhaps?"

"Hmmmm, huh, um," Bella stuttered before I put my mouth close to the phone and cried "Yes!"

Renee got really excited at that. "I knew it! Tell me everything. What, is he a Jock? Indie? I bet he's smart. Is he smart?"

I raised my eyes at Bella, a smirk on my face as I waited for her to tell mom about Edward. Now that mom knew there was a boy in her life she wasn't going to let her get off the phone without telling her about him. Unless, of course, Edward randomly showing up in her room. Bella's eyes went wide and I reached out with my leg to nudge him. 'Stalker' I mouthed, smirking slightly.

"Uh, mom, I…can I talk to you later?" Bella asked, flustered by Edwards magical appearance.

I quickly turned to look at her, my eyes wide as I quickly shook my head back and forth. I didn't want to let mom go.

"Come on, we gotta talk boys!" Renee cried over the speaker, "Are you being safe?"

Before Bella could hang up, I grabbed the phone and climbed over her.

"Alex!" She cried, her cheeks red with embarrassment from our mom's comment.

I stuck my tongue out before taking mom off speakerphone and putting the device to my ear.

"Mom? Sorry about Bella, she really had to go to the bathroom. You know how it is when nature calls." Shooting Bella a wicked smile, I waved goodbye to Edward before walking into my own room.

"Alex, do you know anything about this boy Bella is seeing?" Renée asked as I fell down onto my bed. "I need details here!"

"Mom, it's not really fair for me to tell you about her boyfriend." I may be a little shit at times and enjoy poking fun at my sister, but I was loyal. Edward was Bella's boyfriend and I would let her tell mom about him.

* * *

Authors Note:: Kind of an abrupt ending but I couldn't really think of anything better. So that's how it's going to be until I can think something else up. Thank you to the following amazing people for reviewing the last chapter: **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**,**dream lighting**, **lostfeather1**, **kodt24**, **Supernatural-Addict-Forever**, and **MiuHatake**. Although I think it would be a lot of fun to have Alex visit Jacob instead, she will be at the baseball game other wise there isn't really going to be a way for me to do what I have planned. She probably wouldn't be able to do anything to special until she was a vampire but I think she would get annoyed with Edward reading most of her thoughts and would start training her mind to block him soon. Maybe over the summer? I don't know. Thanks everyone else for reading, favoriting, and following! You all mean a lot to me too! :)


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Friendly Game

**Chapter Sixteen: Friendly Game of Baseball**

I spent the majority of Sunday morning trying to figure out the best thing to wear for later that day. Sure it was just a baseball game, but it was a baseball game with vampires! Alice said they were going to be able to play because it would be stormy over town, but not where they were playing. I didn't know if I should trust Alice and wear light clothes or prepare for the worst and wear a thick sweater with my raincoat. In the end, I decided on just a simple light brown long-sleeved shirt and the leggings from the day before. Pairing this with a warm set of long socks and boots I was ready to go.

Bella and I sat in her room; me helping her get ready as well while we waited for Edward to show up. Every once and a while I would look out the window to see if the stupid Volvo of his was waiting outside yet or not. That's why I was surprised when I looked out and saw a large Jeep suddenly parked behind the truck.

"He's here," I said in a singsong voice, turning to look at Bella. "I'll get the door, you go tell Charlie."

She nodded at me before we both walked down the stairs. She then headed into the living room while I went to get Edward.

"Hey, Eddie," I smiled up at him; since the other night I wasn't as nervous around him. There was still a little hesitation in my gut, but it was small enough for me to ignore.

"Bella's telling Charlie now. We have to wait here for the okay," I told him as he walked into the house.

We sat in the kitchen for a few minutes before Bella came in, a surprised look on her face.

"Just some fair warning, Charlie's got a gun sitting on the table," I raised my eyebrows at her. "It may or may not be loaded right now."

I turned to Edward, a smirk on my face. "Good thing you're bulletproof," I joked, slapping his stone hard chest with my hand before walking out of the kitchen and going to stand by Charlie. A few seconds later, Bella came in with Edward.

"Chief Swan. I wanted to formally introduce myself. I'm Edward Cullen."

I watched as Edward and Charlie shook hands, waiting for dad to freak out over Edwards cold hands when I realized the vampire was wearing gloves. Very sneaky.

"Hi, Edward."

"I won't keep Bella and Alex out too late tonight. They're just going to play baseball with my family," Edward had his charming face on. I wondered if it was working.

"Wait, Alex is going too?" Charlie asked, turning to look down at me.

_I guess not._

I nodded my head. "Yeah, Edward's sister Alice invited me."

"And you're going to get Bella to play baseball?" Charlie asked slowly, turning back to Edward. I could tell that he was very confused at the moment but was trying his hardest not to show it.

"Yes, sir, that's the plan," Edward answered, his charming smile still in place.

Charlie let out a small snort. "Well, good luck with that."

The awkwardness of introducing your boyfriend to your dad ended there thankfully as Bella started ushering Edward and I out of the house. There was a small hiccup when Charlie stopped us to make sure we still had our pepper spray, but that was it. Outside by the Jeep, Edward gave both Bella and I a couple of baseball caps to wear.

Thankfully, the clearing where they would be playing was open enough so that we could drive the Jeep all the way there instead of having to have Edward run us up there. As we pulled up, I could see the other Cullen's already there. Walking over to them, I saw Emmett and Rosalie determining who would bat first, playfully shoving each other when Emmett tried to cheat.

"Glad you're here. We need an umpire," Esme said, stealing Bella and I away from Edward.

"She thinks we cheat," Emmett said, walking past us to get a ball.

"Oh, I know you cheat." Esme called after him, a teasing smile on her face. "Just call it as you girls see it."

Bella and I both nodded as we watched the Cullen's split into teams. It would be Emmett, Edward, and Alice against Carlisle, Jasper, and Rosalie; Esme was going to act as the catcher for both teams. Because Rosalie had beaten Emmett, her team batted first. The two boys ran off, vampire fast, to the outfield while Alice took her place at the pitchers mound. She stood there for a while before smirking.

"It's time," She announced just as a loud clap of thunder shook the sky.

Rosalie took her place in the batter's box and waited for Alice to throw the ball. Alice looked more like a striking cobra than a pitcher, her hand suddenly snapping out. Bella and I had decided that I would make most of the pitching calls seeing as I had more experience with it than her. I had thought that it would be no problem but that all changed quickly. How could I make a call when I didn't even see the ball leave Alice's hand?

"Um, strike," It came out more of a question than an actual call.

Esme turned to me, her motherly smile on her face. "If they don't hit it it's a strike."

I nodded my head as Esme threw the ball back to Alice who caught it with ease. There was a moment's pause before her arm came out and she pitched the ball again. This time, Rosalie connected solidly, a loud crack sounding as the bat met the ball.

"Now I get why you need the thunder," Bella muttered to Esme, awestruck.

I still couldn't see the ball, but I knew it must have been heading towards the woods because that was where Edward had disappeared off too. As soon as he disappeared into the trees, I turned my attention to Rosalie who was rounding the bases at full speed.

"That has to be a home run, right?" Bella asked.

"Edward's very fast," Esme told us, a proud look on her face.

As soon as she said that, Edward made a reappearance with the ball, which he threw to Esme. The mother vampire caught it quickly and held it near the base, waiting for Rosalie. The blonde girl slid in the hopes of getting under the tag, but to no luck.

"You're out," Bella called.

Rosalie glared at her while Emmett started cheering from the outfield. Carlisle tried to calm his adoptive daughter a bit before taking her place, a bat in hand. He connected on the first pitch, but I didn't focus as much this time. I had been distracted by Jasper who was twirling a bat around with one hand. I became even more interested as he did the same move right before he batted. Emmett caught the ball after climbing a tree and quickly threw it to Esme who tagged Carlisle out for a double play.

"So…what do you girls think?" Edward asked as they switched positions.

"One thing's for sure, I'll never be able to sit through dull old Major League Baseball again," Bella answered.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Yes, because you watch baseball all the time," I teased before going over to stand next to Emmett. "Nice catch there, Beast."

He looked down at me, a crooked grin on his face. "You think that was good, watch this."

Picking up a bat, he walked over to home plate and got ready. Jasper looked at him for a moment before throwing out his hand. His style looked more like what I was used to, but it was still fast and hard to see. For me, that is. Emmett seemed to have no trouble as he swung the bat around and hit the ball with so much force I had to cover my ears.

"Now _that_ was awesome," He cried as he slid into home, having scored a home run. He high-fived me, being careful not to smack my arm off.

"That was really cool," I told him, shaking my head as a laugh bubbled up from my chest.

They played a few more innings; me shifting my attention from Jasper to Emmett depending on whose team was batting. Emmett and I joked around a lot while I talked Jasper into showing me some of his bat twirling tricks. I was just attempting one when Alice suddenly cried, "Stop!"

Jasper and I both looked up, our smiles wiped from our faces. I could hear the fear and panic in her voice as clearly as if she had said it while standing next to me. Confusion appeared on my face as the team in the field suddenly used their super speed to join us by the small rock formation to the left of home plate. Jasper quickly put an arm around me and gently started leading me to the others. He handed me over to Esme before turning to watch the woods, Emmett at his side doing the same.

"They were leaving, then they heard us," Alice told us.

"Let's go," Edward said. He gently placed a hand on Bella's lower back and started leading her away, his other hand somehow finding one of mine and pulling me along as well.

Carlisle placed a hand on his shoulder from behind, holding him in place. "It's too late."

I could see the pain in Edward's eyes as he turned to Bella. "Put your hair down."

"Like that'll help. I could smell her from across the field," Rosalie scoffed.

I shot her a glare before helping Bella smooth down her hair. Edward also helped to make sure it covered most of her neck. I figured since that was where a main pulse point was it was also a main source of Bella's smell.

"I shouldn't have brought you two here. I'm so sorry," Edward apologized.

I was still confused as to why everyone else was freaking out but didn't want Edward to see so I just placed a small smile on my face. "It's not your fault."

That only seemed to make him feel worse. "Just be quiet and stand by me."

He led us over to his family who was standing in a cluster looking at the woods. I saw why only moments later as a group of three people emerged. I knew what they were the moment I saw them. The way they moved with such speed and grace could only lead to one explanation, they were vampires. As they got closer, I saw their blood red eyes and had to keep myself from peeing my pants. I quickly grabbed Bella's hand and held onto it for dear life. At that moment I really wished Jasper would use his special power on me.

"I believe this belongs to you," One of the newcomers said, holding up the baseball the Cullen's had been using. Because he stood slightly in front of the other two and in the middle I figured he must be their leader. He threw the ball back to us, Carlisle catching it.

"Thank you."

"I am Laurent, and this is Victoria and James," The leader introduced.

My eyes took in his companions. The female looked like a lion to me, her mess of flaming red hair framed her face like a mane and the look on her face looked almost like a deadly cat about to attack a mouse. But she was nothing compared to the other male, the blonde James. His face was void of expression, but this look in his eye told me that he was thinking very hard about something. His eyes met mine and he turned his head slightly.

"I'm Carlisle and this is my family."

I mentally thanked Carlisle for not giving our names and moving things along quickly. I did not want to be in the presence of these other vampires for much longer.

"I'm afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us," Carlisle said, tossing the ball casually from hand to hand.

"Our apologies. We didn't realize the territory had been claimed," Laurent spoke, his tone telling me that he was being sincere.

Carlisle didn't seem to buy it though as he still spoke cautiously. "Yes, we maintain a permanent residence."

A look of surprised passed the three nomads.

"Really? Well, we won't be a problem anymore," Laurent assured. "We were just passing through."

"The humans were tracking us, but we led them east. You should be safe," The women, Victoria, said. She almost seemed to be teasing.

Carlisle put on a forced, but polite smile. "Excellent."

"So…could you use three more players?" Laurent asked.

The Cullen's all shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh, come on. Just one game."

Carlisle shared a look with Edward, who nodded before turning back to Laurent. "Sure, why not? A few of us were just leaving; you can take their place. We'll bat first."

He tossed the ball back to Laurent only to have it caught by Victoria instead. "I'm the one with the wicked curveball."

"Oh, well I think we can handle that," Jasper said good-naturally, causing most of us to laugh.

"We shall see," Victoria said, winking at Jasper before walking off towards the field with Laurent.

James was the only one of their group that stayed where he was, his eyes never leaving Bella, Edward, and me. After a few seconds, he finally seemed to give up and was about to turn and join his group when the stupid wind picked up and carried Bella's scent right to him.

James took a deep breath before smirking at Edward. "You brought a snack."

That set everything off. First him and Edward started hissing and glaring at each other which cause everyone else to come forward and start hissing and glaring. Esme quickly grabbed us and pushed us behind her while the other Cullen's made a protective half-circle around us.

"I think it would be best if you leave," Carlisle said from his position in front of the protective circle.

Laurent held his hands up before backing away slowly. "Yes, I can see the game is over. We'll go now. James?"

Laurent was the only one to make a move to leave. It wasn't until he placed a hand on the blonde guy's shoulder that he finally got out of his crouch. Victoria followed soon after, the three of them quickly making their way across the field back towards the woods.

"Edward, get Bella and Alex out of here now. Alice and Emmett, you go with." Carlisle instructed, his eyes never leaving the retreating backs of the nomads. "The rest of us will follow them."

Alice and Emmett moved quickly to joined Bella, Edward and me. Alice acted as a guard while Edward and Emmett carried Bella and I over to the Jeep. Alice climbed in with Bella while Emmett joined me in the back seat.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked loudly, finally finding my voice. No one answered as Emmett helped me with the seatbelt/harness and Edward started the Jeep, speeding down the small trail.

* * *

Authors Note:: I'm so sorry that this is late everyone, but you know how it is, school work comes first. I hope you all like this chapter. I felt that the baseball scene was a little boring in the movie compared to the book so I tried to make it a little longer. There will be a three part mini store after this and before New Moon so let me know what you want to see. The more ideas I get, the longer each chapter will be! I already have a few things in mind that I think some of you will like. Thank you very much to last chapters reviewers: **dream lighting**, **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**, **lostfeather1**, **MiuHatake**, and **kodt24**. Although Jacob won't actually be present, we will see more of him in the coming chapters, a little bit anyway. The good thing about this story is that there will not be any annoying Jacob liking Bella nonsense but there will still be plenty of drama :) Thank you everyone else for reading, favoriting, or following this story. It means a lot to me!


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Running Away

**Chapter Seventeen: Running Away**

As he drove, Edward spoke to Alice; his teeth were clenched tightly as he spewed out what seemed like one hundred words a second. He spoke way too fast for me to understand. But I didn't care. I was too busy thinking over everything that happened. Although I didn't know exactly what, I knew something had gone wrong. My stomach was a knot, and not just because Edwards driving seemed to be more erratic than the other times I've ridden with him. In my mind, all I could see were three pairs of bright red eyes staring at me.

Suddenly, we broke free of the forest and the tires of the Jeep met asphalt. Edward capitalized on that fact and pushed the vehicle to move faster. The knot in my stomach worsened as I watched the trees on either side of us blend together to form a wall of dark green.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked. When no one answered, she asked again more forcefully. "Dammit! Someone tell me where we're going."

"I have to get you out of here—far away. Now," Edward answered, his eyes, thankfully, never leaving the road.

"What? Why?" I asked, hoping this time someone would actually tell me.

The only answer I received was the sound of the Jeep's engine working double time as Edward continued to push it faster. I turned to Emmett who didn't return my gaze.

"Seriously, someone has to tell me what the hell is going on!" I shouted.

"Shut up, Alex," Edward growled at me.

"Don't tell my sister to shut up, Edward," Bella snapped. "We deserve to know where you're taking us and why."

A proud smile pulled on my lips as I looked at my sister. For once, she was taking change and not letting anyone push her around. She was going to get answers.

From next to Bella, Alice turned to look at her adoptive brother. "Edward, they're right. They deserve to know."

"Fine!" Edward cried. I watched as his knuckles turned a brighter white as he held the steering wheel in a death grip. "James is a tracker. I read his mind. The hunt is his obsession, and my reaction set him off."

My heart stopped as I realized just how bad things had gone. The group of three hadn't given up back at the baseball field… they had only retreated so they could strategize. They were going to come after us. My worst fear was coming true.

"We're a large clan of strong fighters, all of us protecting a couple of vulnerable humans. I just made this his most exciting game ever," Edward continued darkly.

"Edward, maybe you should pull over," Alice suggested in a calm but still demanding tone.

"No, I have to get them out. He'll start the hunt tonight."

Bella suddenly gasped. "Charlie! He'll hurt Charlie!"

My eyes widened. "We have to go home!" I shouted as well.

"No," Edward said firmly.

"Edward, just pull over so we can think about our options here." Alice tried again.

Edward didn't answer, but the speed of the Jeep decreased a bit.

"Edward," I pleaded. "He's our dad. You have to take us home."

Bella, Alice, and I all tried to get him to either stop the Jeep or take us home. I could tell we were getting on his nerves a bit, but I didn't stop. There was no way in hell I was going to let my dad get killed by a vampire because of me. It wasn't going to happen.

"I can't let him hurt her!" Edward suddenly cried, his foot crashing onto the brake so hard that I would have gone through the windshield if it hadn't been for the harness I had been strapped into and Emmett's arm going across my chest.

It wasn't until then that I realized I wasn't the one in danger, but that it was Bella. She was the one with the more powerful scent, not me. She was the one Edward was most protective of. It was her the tracker was going to go after. I was more or less a bonus prize if anything. Not the main focus but something that would easily sweeten the deal. A small sigh of relief escaped my mouth at that as the knot in my stomach unraveled a bit only to retighten when I thought of Bella in danger. I wasn't going to let her go through being hunted alone.

"You have to take them home," Emmett said from next to me.

"That's the first place he'll go," Edward pointed out.

"He's no match for us, Edward. He won't be able to get to them," Emmett assured, looking down at me when he was finished. He gave me a reassuring smile and I moved closer to him. His presence calmed me and helped me feel safe. If I had to bet on him or James, I would bet on Emmett any day of the week.

The next minute was filled with Edward arguing with Emmett and Alice, not accepting that there was another way to handle the situation. A short silence followed until Bella broke it, explaining her plan. Edward would drop us off at our house, we would tell Charlie we were leaving, and then we would go wherever Edward wanted us too. I had to admit, it was a really good plan. Edward tried to defend against it, but Emmett and Alice wouldn't let him.

"He's not going to get passed us, Edward," Emmett said confidently.

Alice nodded. "I don't see him attacking. He'll wait for us to leave them alone."

"How long do you think it will take him to realize that isn't going to happen?" Edward asked sharply.

I slowly reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder. He quickly turned around to glare at me, but I didn't take away my hand. "Edward. Please take us home. It'll all be fine."

He seemed to think it over before sighing in defeat. "You both are leaving tonight. You say whatever you have to too get Charlie to let you go. You both have fifteen minutes from the time you enter the house to pack a bag and get into your truck."

Swiftly, he started the Jeep again before heading towards town. No one said anything this time. The closer we got to home the faster my heart started to race. I was chewing on one of my fingernails when suddenly Emmett draped one of his large arms over my shoulders and pulled me close. I calmed down slightly, not caring that I could feel the chill of his body through my shirt. If anything I think the chill helped. It woke me up and helped me focus on what I had to do.

"Emmett, I want you to take outside, Alice, you'll be in Alex's room. I'll be inside as well with Bella. After they're out, you two take the Jeep home and tell Carlisle, I'll meet you there." Edward instructed, breaking the silence.

"Nuh, uh," Emmett said, shaking his head. "I'm with you until this is over."

"If I have any say at all, I would like to have Emmett with us," I piped in.

"We can't all fit in the truck," Bella pointed out.

"He's a vampire, he can ride in the back," I said. "Plus, it'll be easier for him to go after the Tracker if he shows up."

"I like this girl," Emmett informed us happily, messing up my hair playfully. "She knows what's up."

Despite the situation, a small giggle passed my lips. Although I had only known Emmett for a few days now, I felt connected to him. Unlike Edward who put most of his focus on Bella, him and Jasper and the other Cullens listened to what I had to say and treated me like a person. It broke my heart that some of them might get hurt trying to protect my sister and me.

When we finally reached the house, I saw that all the lights were on and Charlie was waiting for us. I watched as his form retreated from one of the windows in the kitchen and went to another part of the house to act like he hadn't been looking for us. Knowing that he had probably been worried about us only made what I was about to do even worse. The three vampires were all sitting up perfectly straight, their eyes and ears trying to detect any danger that might be waiting in the woods by our house.

"He's not here," Edward said suddenly, turning off the Jeep. We all got out of the vehicle, Emmett heading into the woods, Alice streaking off towards the house, and Edward leading Bella and I to the front door. "Fifteen minutes," he reminded us as we got closer.

When we reached the door, Bella suddenly turned to look at Edward. "Please understand that I don't mean anything that I'm about to say."

Edward gave her a confused look that only deepened when she turned around shouting, "Edward, I said leave me alone!"

"Bella, don't do this. Just think about it, please," Edward begged shortly after, realizing what Bella was doing.

I stood in front of the door, arms crossed over my chest. "Get your ass off our yard before I have my dad come out there and kick it," I threatened, slamming the door in his face.

By this time, Charlie had come out from the living room and was looking at Bella and me in disbelief.

"What happened?" He questioned, turning from Bella to me. "Bella, Alex?"

Bella just shook her head before heading towards the stairs. I tried to follow her, but Charlie grabbed my arm and held me in place.

"Alex, tell me right now what's going on."

"Bella and Edward got into a fight," was all I said before pulling my arm from his grasp and heading upstairs into my room.

Charlie tried to follow me in, but I shut the door in his face. Taking a deep breath, I turned away from the door to start packing a bag only to have Alice hand me a packed backpack. All my books had been dumped out on my bed. I grabbed the bag and swung it over my back before throwing my arms around her and hugging her. Her body was hard and cold, but I squeezed her hard and buried my head in her neck anyway. After a while, her arms found their way around me as she returned the hug. We stood there for a few seconds before she let me go and nudged me towards the door.

"It's time," she said sadly, before disappearing out my window.

I took another deep breath before opening the door and almost running into Bella.

"I'm leaving," She told me, hurt in her eyes. "I have to get out of here. I'm going home."

I nodded my head. "I'm coming with you, you can't go alone."

Together we both made our way down the stairs, Charlie following close behind.

"Your mother's not even in Phoenix," He tried to reason. "You two shouldn't drive right now. Just go upstairs and lay down. I'll take you both to the airport in the morning."

Bella shook her head. "I want to drive, it'll give me time to think. I'll pull into a motel in a few hours. I promise."

We both tried to make our way to the front door only to be stopped by Charlie grabbing us both by the arm.

"Girls…I know I'm not around much, but I can change that. We can do more things together," Charlie promised. I could hear the desperation in his voice and it killed me.

Bella looked at me from the side quickly, tears pouring out her eyes, before turning to look at Charlie. "Like watch more baseball on the flat screen? Dinner at the diner every Saturday? Same people, same steak, same berry cobbler every night?" She shook her head. "That's you, dad. Not me."

She pulled herself from his grip and started towards the door.

"Bella…I just got you girls back," Charlie said softly, hoping that might make her stay.

"And if I don't get out now, I'm going to get stuck here like mom did. I'm not going to make the same dumb mistake she did. I hate it—I can't stay here another minute!" She cried before pushing open the door and walking out.

The hand still holding my arm quickly let go before dangling lifelessly at Charlie's side. His face looked like he had just been smacked across the face. But I knew it wasn't anything that simple. Bella had said the exact words that our mom had said when she left with us all those years ago. Not being able to leave him like that, I grabbed his shoulders and shook him slightly so he would look at me.

"She's just speaking out of a broken heart, dad," I said shakily. "She doesn't mean any of it. I'll give you a call when we get to Phoenix and let you know we're okay."

I pulled him into a hug, which he did not return. From outside, I could hear the sound of the truck being started by Bella. I had to go or else I would be left here.

"I love you," I said softly, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him quickly on the cheek before running out of the house and jumping into the truck.

She pulled out of the driveway and down the street. I watched as tears fell from her eyes and knew she was beating herself up for what she had said to Charlie. I was just about to take one her hands in mine when Edward appeared next to the truck and scared the shit out of us.

"He'll forgive you," He told her before opening the door and having her slide over some so she sat in the middle.

"His face…I said the same words my mom used when she left him." She shook her head. "I don't think he'll ever forgive me."

"It's the only way he'd let you go," Edward assured softly, "He's safe now."

"Did it work, is the tracker following us?" I asked. I needed to know what we hadn't just broken our father's heart for nothing.

Edward nodded his head. "He showed up just in time to see the end of your little act. He's running behind us now."

"Can we outrun him?" Bella asked, moving so that she was sitting close to Edward.

"No," He answered, pushing the truck to go fast only to have it whine in protest.

"Jacob recommended we not drive over sixty," I told him, unsure why I remembered him telling us that. That day on the beach seemed so long ago now.

Edward seemed to grumble at that. Suddenly, a dark shadow passed over my side of the truck and was followed by a loud bang as something landed in the bed of our truck. Both Bella and I screamed only to have Edward quickly shush us.

"It's just Emmett." He told us.

It was then that I remembered my idea and let out the breath I had been holding. Knowing he was outside protecting the truck helped me calm down greatly. A pair of bright headlights suddenly flooded the cab of our truck with light.

"That's Alice. She's in the Jeep."

As we drove through town, we passed the diner just as Angelia, Eric, Mike, and Jessica were exiting. They were all holding onto each other and laughing about something as they made their way towards their cars. I watched them for as long as I could, suddenly wishing I could join them.

* * *

Authors Note:: This is now my favorite chapter of this story. The beginning is heavily influenced by the book because I like that version better than the movie. Please let me know what you want to see in the summer three-shot before New Moon by either leaving it in a review or messaging me. The more ideas I get the longer those chapters are going to be. Now to thank the amazing people who reviewed the previous chapter: **Supernatural-Addict-Forever**, **lostfeather1**, **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**, **kodt24**, and **RHatch89**. I also would like to thank everyone else who has read, favorited, or followed this story. You guys are awesome too! :)


	18. Chapter Eighteen: On the Run

**Chapter Eighteen: On the Run**

"Why did this happen?" Bella asked with a sigh. "Why us?"

"Um, actually…it's just happening to you," I pointed out before I could stop myself. As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to pull them back. I knew what was going to happen now; Bella was going to blame herself for everything.

"What?" She looked at me, horrified.

Edward shot me a dark look. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine." He then looked down at Bella. "I should never have exposed you like that."

Bella shook her head. "How is it just me? Alex and I are sisters, shouldn't we share the same appeal?"

"You may be sisters, but you both have completely different scents," Edward told her while I nodded my head, remembering when he told me the same thing. "Hers is like a watered down version of yours. She still smells good, but there is something strange about it."

"So that's why he's coming after just me?"

Edward hesitated for a moment, seemingly thinking about whether or not he wanted to speak. In the end, he must have thought it was important because he spoke slowly. "James is coming after you, not only because of your appealing smell but also because of how I acted at the field. If I hadn't protected you, he would have killed you right there. Instead, I stood against him and made this his greatest hunt yet."

I felt Bella take a sharp intake of breath next to me. Slowly, I stretched my hand out until I found hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She laced her fingers with mine and returned the squeeze.

"I think our only choice will have to be to kill him," Edward added. "He won't give up any other way. Carlisle isn't going to like that."

The rest of the ride to the Cullen's house was spent in silence. All the lights were on as the two cars pulled up in front of the house. Emmett jumped from the bed of the truck and opened my door in the time it took me to blink. He winked at me before picking me up and tucking me protectively under his arm. Edward grabbed Bella and together the five of us made our way to the door. We had just stepped inside when Carlisle appeared to show Laurent out.

"He came to warn us," Carlisle told us as Edward, Emmett, and Alice had had taken defensive positions.

"I've grown tired of his games," The red-eyed vampire told us. "This isn't my fight. But you should know that he has unparalleled senses and is absolutely lethal. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years…the woman, Victoria, will back him. Don't underestimate her."

There was a pause as he looked at Bella, completely ignoring me.

"Are you sure she's worth it?" He asked.

It was a simple question, one that Edward answered with a dark look and low growl. I watched as something flashed through his dark eyes. It was gone before I could make out what it was, but I had a feeling that it was sympathy. I wondered if he actually thought the Cullen's stood a chance.

"In that case I feel I should warn you. James is just as comfortable in the human world as you seem to be. He won't come at you head on but try and come in a direction that you wouldn't expect." He then turned to Carlisle. "I'm truly sorry for what's been unleashed here."

With a bow of his head, he walked out into the night before disappearing with a blur. We all moved from the entryway and into the middle of the house. I looked around cautiously at the large wall of windows, afraid that I might see the glowing red eyes of James or the flaming hair of Victoria. Esme seemed to sense my unease and quickly appeared next to a panel where she pushed some buttons that cause large shutters to stretch over the windows. A few more buttons were pressed and soon one of the walls opened up and led to a large, modern garage.

"I've had to fight our kind before. We're hard to kill," Jasper said as he and Emmett walked over to a large set of cabinets, which they opened and started to dig through.

"But not impossible," Edward threw out as he led Bella and I into the center of the garage. "We'll tear him up."

Emmett looked over his shoulder at me, a determined, almost excited smile on his face. "We'll rip him apart with our hands then burn the pieces."

Carlisle, who was standing next to Emmett, gave his adoptive son a displeased look. "I don't relish killing another creature. Not even a sadistic one like James," He said sorrowfully.

"If he doesn't get to one of us first," Rosalie muttered. Unlike everyone else in her family, she was perched on one of the work counters.

Because we weren't standing too far away, both Bella and I heard the comment. It was enough to break Bella. She turned around and looked up at Edward, a pleading look in her eyes.

"This is insane. You can't put yourselves in danger like this for us—for me."

"Too late," Rosalie spit out, a glare firmly placed on Bella.

Edward shot her a look but otherwise ignored her comment. Reaching past her, he grabbed two sets of keys from the wall and threw one of them to Carlisle. "I'll run Bella and Alex south while you lead the tracker away."

Carlisle caught the keys effortlessly but shook his head. "No. The tracker knows you would never leave Bella. He'll follow you."

"I'll take the girls," Alice said, pushing her way over to us. "Jasper and I will drive them south."

Edward opened his mouth to protest, but Alice beat him to it. "I'll keep her safe, Edward." She promised before looking at me a smiling. "I'll keep them both safe."

Before it had all seemed like they were just going to keep Bella safe because she was the one that James wanted the most. She was the one with Edward; I was just the little sister that was being dragged along. Alice was the first one to actually include me in the situation and make me feel truly safe like I wasn't just some unwanted tag-along that didn't deserve to be protected. I flashed her a thank you smile as I moved to stand next to her.

A pained look came over Edward's face as he looked at Alice. "Can you keep your thoughts to yourself?" He asked.

Alice just nodded as she started to lead us away towards a sleek black car with dark tinted windows. Bella and I watched him over our shoulders as he opened both of our bags and started to hand out some of our clothes to Esme and Rosalie.

"Esme, Rosalie, put these on so the tracker will pick up Bella's and Alex's scent."

I wondered if he had been able to read my mind before and realized that I was there too and also in danger. He must have because he quickly looked at me from across the garage and gave me an apologetic look. Esme took the clothes of mine handed to her and quickly started changing into them while Rosalie just dropped Bella's clothes on the ground.

"Why should I?" She asked angrily, "What are either of them to me? Oh, I know, they're a danger you've inflicted on us."

Carlisle hit her with a stern look. "Alex is part of this and Bella is with Edward. They are both family. And we protect our family."

Rosalie glared at him but got down from the counter and picked up of clothes she had dropped before putting them on. She then walked over to the Jeep with Emmett not too far behind. I still hadn't gotten into the backseat of the black car so Rosalie glared at me as she walked past. Emmett threw the large bag of supplies he was carrying into the back of the Jeep before turning to me.

"Hey, don't let her get to you," he said quietly before pulling me to his chest. "Be safe, okay."

I wrapped my arms around his large body, a sad smile forming on my face as I buried my head into his shirt. "You too." It wasn't until then I realized just how much I cared about Emmett and the others. They were going to try and protect us… and this could very well be the last time I see some of them.

A few tears started to fall from my eyes, but Emmett wiped them away with his big hands. "None of that now," He chuckled. "We're going to be fine."

He opened the door for me and closed it once I was all buckled in. He flashed me one last confident smile before disappearing into the Jeep. Next to me, Bella was talking to Edward and I tried my best not to listen to what they were saying. They deserved a chance to say goodbye to each other. When they were finished, Edward shifted so that he could see me.

"Alex, I'm sorry I got you and Bella into this," he said, "I'm going to make this right."

I nodded my head. "Just make sure you come back to Bella."

Everything was quiet for a moment as everyone got into the cars they were supposed to take. Suddenly, Carlisle's voice sounded around the garage. All the vehicles had their windows down so they could hear him clearly.

"Alice, will they take the bait?"

There was a pause as Alice looked into the future. "They will. The tracker will follow the Jeep and the woman will follow the truck. We'll wait for your call and leave when everything is clear."

"Alright," Carlisle answered as all the cars started their engines.

The Jeep left first. Emmett was behind the wheel and seemed to drive just as bad as Edward. Even through the dark tints of the windows I could see the tires kicking up some dirt and rocks as it sped down the thin trail that would lead them to the main road. They were gone for maybe five minutes before Esme and Rosalie left. The sound of the truck starting up met my ears before it too started down the path and disappeared from sight.

By now, my heart was starting to beat fast in my chest. Alice had assured us that we would be able to make it out safely, but I still couldn't get myself to believe it. Deep inside I worried about the possibility that something might go wrong and all this preparation would be for nothing. Part of me wanted to ask Jasper to use his powers to help calm me down, but I forced myself not to. He had bigger things to worry about than making me feel better. He needed all his energy to be on the task at hand.

We sat in the garage for less than ten minutes before Alice's phone buzzed. Within seconds, it was at her ear and I could just make out the faint hum of someone else's voice. Alice gave a quick nod of her head before ending the call and turning to Jasper.

"It's time."

That was all Jasper needed to hear before he sped out of the garage.

* * *

We ended up making it out of town without a problem. Next to me, Bella sat shaking as she worried about Edward and the others. Being the nice sister I was, I tried to calm her down.

"Everything is going to be okay, Bella," I said soothingly, grabbing one of her hands and holding it in mine.

"You shouldn't be here, Alex," she told me sadly. "This is all my fault, I put you in danger."

I shook my head. "This isn't your fault. It's that stupid trackers."

I continued to comfort her for about a half hour by the end of which she was resting her head against my shoulder. I had one of my arms around her and was gently rubbing her back. Suddenly, my phone rang and I was quick to pull it from my pants pocket. Bella lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at me, a pained look on her face.

"Is it Charlie?" She asked.

"No," I answered after looking at the caller ID. "It's Jacob."

I heard her breath a sigh of relief. "Why is Jacob calling you?"

"No idea," I said, "There's only one way to find out."

I hit the green talk button and brought the device to my ear.

"Alex, is it true?" Jacob asked as soon as I said hello. He sounded so worried.

"Is what true?" I asked, confused. Next to me, Bella held her head close to mine so she could also hear what was being said.

"Charlie called the house about an hour ago and just got off the phone with dad. He said that you and Bella ran away."

Bella and I looked at one another. I took a deep breath before answering. "It's true, though I wouldn't necessarily say that we ran away. Something happened and Bella had to get out of town. I knew she would need me so I went with."

I could hear him give a relieved sigh. "So you're going to be coming back home." It didn't sound like a question but rather a statement.

"I don't know…" I trailed off. I didn't know what the plan was for when we were finished with this tracker business. I didn't even know how long this could take. I hoped that we would be able to return home, but that wasn't a guarantee.

"You have to come home," Jacob insisted. "I didn't talk to Charlie, but I could tell from the way dad was talking to him that he was really upset. You guys can't leave him like that."

I watched as Bella bit her lip before turning to look out the window. I knew she was beating herself up about Charlie, but so was I. I hated myself for how we had to leave him but it was for his own good.

"It's complicated, Jacob," I said slowly, rubbing my forehead. "I have to go."

I could hear the sound of Jacob's protests over the phone, but I didn't listen as I pulled the device away from my ear and ended the call.

* * *

Authors Note:: I'm really sorry that this update is so late. Friday I was feeling lazy so I was just planning everything out and working on the mini stories. Then I had to go to work and it was Easter so I couldn't finish this update. I hope this makes up from it. The ending isn't exactly how I wanted it, it's a bit more awkward than I would like, but it's more or less what I wanted. Hopefully I'll be able to come back and fix it later. I want to thank the people that reviewed the last chapter: **RHatch89**,** dream lighting,** **lostfeather1**, **kodt24**, and **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967. **Thanks for telling me what you think of this story as well as giving me ideas for what you want to see in the Mini stories. Keep up the awesome reviews! Thank you to everyone else who has read, favorited, or followed this story as well, you guys are awesome too! :)


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Deadly Phone Call

**Chapter Nineteen: Deadly Phone Call **

I woke up in a room that was so unfamiliar my heart raced with panic at the sight of it. It wasn't until the fog of sleep cleared from my brain a bit that I was able to remember where I was, in a hotel room in Phoenix. Slowly, bits and pieces from the night before returned to me: Jacob's phone call, the slight glare of the sun as it started to rise, Bella calling mom and leaving at least two messages. I got out of bed carefully as to not wake my sister and slowly made my way out into the front room where Jasper and Alice sat like a pair of statues on the couch.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, my voice only a whisper as I walked towards them.

"Most of the day," Jasper answered, his head turning away from the TV. "We had room service bring up some food for you and Bella."

I wondered if he had heard my stomach growling from across the room. I didn't say anything as I joined them on the couch and started picking at the food, which consisted mostly of fruit and chilled veggies. They probably didn't know when we would wake up and wanted something that would keep longer. I tucked my feet under me and leaned gently against Jasper while nibbling a carrot. He didn't seem to mind, just shifted slightly so that his arm now rested on the back of the couch. I'm not sure how much time passed, at least enough for the news to come on, before Alice got up from the couch and drifted into the bedroom.

"Sorry," Jasper said, flashing me an apologetic look before removing himself from the couch as well to sit back down at the small desk in the far corner of the room.

I looked at him confused before Alice returned with Bella a few steps behind and realized why he had left. Bella sat down next to me and started picking at the food as well.

"So what do we do now?" She asked, looking at Alice.

"We wait for Carlisle to call."

I watched as my sister started to have a mental breakdown, worrying about all the others. I worried for their safety as well but was too emotionally drained and lacked the energy to express that fear at the moment. I had to have faith in the others that they would be safe and finish off the tracker quickly so I could return to Charlie. My dad has had far too many people he's loved leave him and I would not be one of them. I refused to be.

After Jasper and Alice managed to calm Bella down she walked back into the bedroom, Alice following casually behind her. There was a moment's silence before Jasper returned to his previous spot on the couch next to me. Neither of us said anything for a while.

"You're handling everything rather well," he said, breaking the silence.

"I'm tired, Jasper," I answered, looking up at him blankly, "I miss my dad."

Suddenly, his arms were around me, pulling me to him. I didn't object but instead buried my head into his shirt and let the tears fall. I cried silently for what felt like hours. When I finally seemed to run out of tears, my eyes felt heavy and I couldn't stop myself from falling asleep.

* * *

I woke up a few hours later curled up next to Jasper with sore eyes. Detangling myself from him, I sat up straight and almost hit Alice in the head as I stretched my stiff arms out.

"Oh, I'm sorry Alice," I muttered sleepily, flashing her an apologetic look.

"It's okay." She turned away from the TV to give me a small smile. The smile quickly faded and a blank look took over her face.

"Alice?" Jasper said. Moving quickly, he grabbed a sheet of hotel stationery from the desk and sat it down in front of Alice, placing a pencil in her hand as he sat down next to her. "What do you see?"

"The tracker. He figured it out," Alice answered in an almost robotic-like voice. "He just changed course."

As soon as she said that I realized she was having a vision. It seemed strange and almost scary how suddenly it came on and how it affected her. Part of me couldn't help but wonder if she enjoyed having them or if they were usually more trouble than they were worth.

By now, Alice's sketch started to actually look like something. There was something familiar about it, but I couldn't remember off the top of my head.

"How do the visions work?" Bella asked, coming to stand next to the coffee table. I hadn't realized that she had returned to the room. "Edward said they weren't always certain."

"She sees the course people are on, while they're on it," Jasper said, looking up at her. "If they change their minds, the visions change."

"That's really gotta suck," I muttered, my eyes following each stroke of Alice's pencil. I guess I never thought about just how many visions Alice could have on any given day.

Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Jasper nod his head. I would have turned to get a better look, but Bella suddenly drew my attention. She was turning her head to get a better look at the sketch; her eyes squinted as she thought hard about something.

"So, the course James is on now will lead him to…a ballet studio?"

Alice stopped drawing mid-swipe and looked up at Bella the same time Jasper and I did.

"You've been here?" Alice asked, a slight worry in her voice.

Bella shook her head before changing her mind and nodding. "No. I mean, yeah. Mom made Alex and I take ballet lessons when we were kids. The school we went to had an arch just like that." She pointed at the arch in the drawing. "Don't you remember, Alex?"

I furrowed my brows before looking down at the picture once more. I didn't take ballet for as long as Bella did, only a year. After that, she had complained enough to mom that she pulled us out. I was like, six or seven at the time. But now that I looked at it in its entirety, it did look a bit familiar.

"I…I think that is the same arch," I said slowly, lifting my head to look up at my sister once more.

"Was your school here in Phoenix?" Jasper asked, giving me a hard look.

"Yeah, within walking distance," I said, nodding. "It was just around the corner from our house."

Suddenly, a faint buzzing noise filled the air. Bella looked down at her phone in her hand before breathing a sigh of relief. I knew who it was before she even answered the phone. "Edward. Are you alright?"

She moved quickly across the room and into the bedroom, closing the door behind her so that she could talk to her boyfriend in private. I watched her go, staring at the closed door for a few seconds before Jasper pulled me back.

"Is there any reason you or Bella would go to your old ballet studio now?"

I shook my head. "Not really. It was so long ago I can barely remember even taking classes there. Bella was in it longer than I was and she hated it. That's why we stopped."

Alice and Jasper shared a look.

"What could the tracker be planning that will lead him to our old ballet studio?" I asked.

"We don't know," Jasper answered after a small pause.

I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at that. A new plate of food had been brought up while I was sleeping so I got up from the couch and walked over to where it sat on the desk. I picked up an apple and bit into it. I was just finishing it when Bella walked back into the room. I could tell right away that something was wrong. I took a step towards her, about to ask what was wrong, when she turned towards me and flashed me a smile. She was putting on a brave face.

"Edward and the others are coming here," she said, her voice even. "Then him and Emmett are going to take Alex and I away somewhere."

"What about Charlie?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"He's fine. Esme and Rosalie are with him now, watching him in case Victoria tries anything."

A sigh of relief left me as well as a weight from my chest. So what if the tracker got away, at least Charlie and the others were safe.

"When will the others get here?" Alice asked even though I'm sure she already knew.

"In a few hours. Edward wants us to meet them at the airport," Bella answered.

I watched as she slowly started making her way towards me. Everything about her was controlled. I've never seen her like this before except for when she had a secret she didn't want anyone else to know.

"Right after I hung up with Edward, I got a call from mom," she said slowly.

"What? And you didn't let me talk to her?" I asked, a tone of anger slipping into my voice.

Bella shook her head. "She was hysterical. By the time I calmed her down I had to get her off the phone so she couldn't ask too many questions."

Although I didn't like it, I understood why Bella didn't let me talk to mom. Mom certainly would have asked questioned that Bella wouldn't have been able to answer. And when Bella didn't answer them, mom's overacting imagination would have gotten the best of her and she would have come home right away.

"Hey Alice, Edward also told me that you and Jasper were going to stay here to watch our old house, just in case. Do you think if I write a letter for my mom you could give it to her? Or at least leave it at the house for her?" Bella asked suddenly, turning to Alice.

Alice gave a small smile. "Oh course, Bella."

Bella turned around and grabbed a few sheets of stationery and a few envelopes from the desk before looking at me. "Alex, would you like to write one too?"

"Sure."

With the food also on the table, there wasn't enough room for us both to write our letters. Instead, we walked into the little bedroom and sat on the floor next to the bedside table. I was just about to start writing my letter to mom when Bella nudged my shoulder. She held out her sheet of paper for me to read.

**_Mom didn't call. It was James._**

My eyes went wide and I opened my mouth to speak only for her to shake her head and look at me pleadingly. She turned back to the paper and wrote quickly.

**_Jasper and Alice can hear us._**

Now I knew why she was acting so funny. I grabbed the sheet of paper she had written the two messages on and wrote my own, turning it to her when I was finished.

**_What did he want?_**

She wrote a lot. So much that I just started reading over her shoulder. We didn't have much time. Who knew when Alice or Jasper might walk in to check up on us.

**_He wants me. At the airport, I'm going to try and sneak away. If you could help by distracting Jasper and Alice I would appreciate it. I have to do this so he'll leave you all alone. I really want to write a letter to Edward, explaining everything. Please give it to him and make sure he doesn't go after James. I don't want him to get hurt._**

By the end of her message, she looked at me sadly. I could see the beginning of tears in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. I took in a deep breath, shaking my head. I didn't want to lose my sister. Grabbing the piece of paper I asked her to let me go with but she quickly shook her head. She then mouthed out a single word, "please."

I bit my lip, fighting back my own tears, before slowly moving my head up and down. Bella let out a sigh of relief before grabbing a clean piece of paper and writing out her letter to Edward. While she did that, I grabbed the old piece of paper and started to tear it up into as little of pieces as I could. After that, I walked into the small attached bathroom and flushed the scraps down the toilet. With the evidence gone, I walked back into the bedroom just as Bella was sealing the letter.

"Make sure he understands," She breathed in my ear as she handed me the note. I nodded my head before tucking it into my bag under a bunch of clothes.

The two of us then walked back into the sitting room where Alice stood waiting. Carlisle had called and told her pretty much the same thing Edward had told Bella. They were going to be on the first flight out of Seattle and would be in Phoenix in a couple of hours. Jasper was downstairs already, checking us out. We would leave for the airport within the hour.

* * *

Authors Note:: So this chapter ended up being longer than I originally planed. Because of that, this one ended up being more or less a filler chapter. Sorry. The next chapter will hopefully be a lot more interesting. I've got a new poll on my profile regarding this story so if you could please got and take it that would be awesome. It may not seem like it, but it's important. I want to give you guys some say. Thank you to the following people for reviewing the previous chapter:**** dream lighting, **RHatch89****,****lostfeather1**, **kodt24**,**Supernatural-Addict-Forever**, and **Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967**. I think you guys now know wether or not Alex is going to get hurt. I can't wait for this story to be finished so that we can move onto New Moon. Like most of you, I want Alex to be able to branch out and be more of her own person. I would like Jacob and Alex to get together soon so hopefully that will happen if I can find the right place in time for them. It will help set up for some drama I have planned. Thanks everyone else who has read, favorited, or followed this story! :)


	20. Chapter Twenty: The Chase Ends

**Chapter Twenty: The Chase Ends**

The drive to the airport was a silent and uncomfortable one. The closer we got, the more nervous I started to feel, fear running up and down my spine as I couldn't help but think of what Bella was going to try and do. A large part of me wished that Alice or Jasper would catch her so that she would be safe from her own stupidity. Edward and his family were risking their lives for us and she was willing to throw hers away.

When we finally got to the airport and parked the car in the parking ramp, Bella led the way through the busy place while I tried to keep my hands from shaking. I wondered if Jasper thought I was nervous about seeing Edward and the others again because he suddenly placed a chilled hand on my shoulder, working his magic to chase away my discomfort. I gave him a small smile of thanks but didn't say anything; afraid my words would betray me.

"Would you guys like to go get some breakfast?" Alice asked when we reached terminal four where Edward's plane was going to land.

"Not yet," Bella answered while I just shook my head. For once, I wasn't hungry. My stomach was busy doing flips, if I ate now it would only make a reappearance a few minutes later.

Alice seemed to ask a dozen more times after that within the span of an hour. Each time would be the same, Bella would respond vocally and I would shake my head. Next to me, Bella bounced her leg so much she was starting to shake the whole row of chairs. I stretched out a hand and placed it on one of hers, giving it a squeeze in the hopes that she would stop. She didn't. She didn't even seem to realize I was there. Her eyes and mind seemed to be focused on the arrival bored, watching as the flight from Seattle crept closer and closer to the top.

"Their plane is early," I said out loud, watching as the numbers next to his flight flipped. Next to me, Bella's leg stopped bouncing.

_She can't do it now. She can't sneak away! She's out of time,_ I thought happily, a smile forming on my face. Instantly I started to relax, sinking deeper into my chair. Everything was going to be all right.

"I think I'll eat now," Bella said quickly, standing up.

"Me too," I said as well. Now that my stomach didn't feel like it was about to constrict itself to death I was starving. I had no idea what day it was, only that it had been more than a few hours since I last ate.

Alice smoothly rose from her seat as well. "Okay, let's go."

A wild look appeared in Bella's eyes as she asked if Jasper could come instead. I gave her a weird look before shrugging it off. Honestly, I didn't care which vampire came with us as long as I got my food. Jasper had a confused look on his face but didn't say anything as he stood up and led Bella and I towards the long line of food vendors.

The first few café's we passed didn't seem to appeal to Bella as she walked right past them without so much as a second glance. Me on the other hand, they had my mouth watering, especially one that was just setting out fresh cinnamon rolls. Jasper pretty much had to drag me away from that stand.

"We'll get one on the way back," he promised me as we hurried to catch up with Bella.

We walked a bit more before Bella stopped in front of the woman's room.

"Do you mind?" Bella asked even though she was already walking backward towards the restroom. "I'll only be a minute."

Jasper looked down at me. "Do you have to go too?"

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm good."

"We'll be right out here," Jasper said then, crossing his arms over his chest.

We stood in silence for a moment before I broke it.

"Are you sure we can't go back to get a cinnamon roll now?" I practically begged.

"No, we can't. We have to wait for your sister," Jasper answered, an amused smile on his face.

I let out a disappointed sigh before reaching into my back pocket to grab my phone to check the time. I was met with a black screen and remembered that I had turned it off after the call from Jacob. With another sigh, I turned the device back on and was met with four messages and three texts. Two of the messages were from Charlie, one was from Jacob, and the last one was from Renée. All three texts were from Leslie, wondering where the hell I was.

"I'm going to go listen to these," I told Jasper, taking a few steps away from the crowded terminal to stand next to a wall.

I decided to listen to my dad's messages first and instantly regretted it when I heard his sad voice through the phone. He was worrying about us and wanted to know if we were both safe. I couldn't even finish the second message; it was just too much. I listened to Jacob's message next. He, like Charlie, was worried about the two of us and told us to come back home. He also told us that Charlie missed us before the message ended. Mom's message was last and it was very different from the first three I listened too. She was confused, and like usual, over reacting. She wanted to know why she had two messages from Bella and why neither of us answered when she tried to call back. She wanted to know what was going on. Slowly, I returned the phone to my pocket and walked back over to Jasper.

"Where's Bella?" I asked, surprised that she wasn't standing with him.

"She hasn't come out yet."

"Really? Did she fall in?" I looked at him, confused. "I'll go check on her."

Pushing open the doors I was met with an empty bathroom. A wave of panic ran through me as I started pushing on the stall doors, praying that she was still in one of them.

"Bella? Are you in there?" I asked desperately when I came to a locked stall.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Called a strangers angry voice from the other side.

I quickly stepped away. "Sorry."

I went back to checking the rest of the stalls, getting yelled at by two more strangers before I accepted the fact that Bella wasn't in there.

_She didn't…_

Exiting the bathroom, I looked up at Jasper my eyes wide. "She's not in there."

* * *

After dropping me back off with Alice, Jasper started to try and find Bella. I sat in my seat, numb and unmoving. What was I going to tell Edward when his plane landed in a few minutes? What was I going to tell mom or dad when Bella was found dead somewhere? What was I going to do?

Jasper returned just as it was announced that the plane from Seattle had landed. Bella wasn't with him, telling me that she had done what she hoped to do. The three of us stood, waiting to see Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle through the crowd. Alice was the one who spotted them, waving a hand up before pushing me through the crowd.

"Where's Bella?" Were the first words out of Edwards' mouth, his brows furrowing.

I couldn't stop myself. The tears fell fat and heavy from my eyes as I launched myself into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Edward. So sorry. It's all my fault."

I kept muttering my weak apology while Jasper explained to the others what had happened. Bella had slipped away and her trail ended at the curb in front of the airport where she must have gotten on a bus or taken a taxi.

"How did she get past you?" Edward asked, his voice desperate more than angry.

"There was a second door to the bathroom," I said, lifting my face from his chest. "There's something she wanted me to give you."

I reached under my green plaid shirt, pulling the letter I carried from the waistband of my shorts. Taking a deep breath, I handed it to him. His pale hands ripped open the envelope swiftly before pulling the letter from inside. His eyes darted across the page quickly, reading the note at least three times before he was looking down at me.

"You knew she was going to do this and you didn't say anything?"

"She made me promise. I didn't want to, I swear. When your flight ended up being ten minutes early I thought she ran out of time and wasn't going to go through with it. I should have remembered that the bathroom had two entrances, but I didn't. I should have gone in with her. I should have told her no back at the hotel. I'm so sorry." I hung my head in shame. This was all my fault. I stood there; waiting for Edward to blow up at me, go on a rampage, something other than what he did. His cold hand came under my chin and lifted it gently so that I was looking at him.

"This isn't your fault, Alex. It's James's. Do you have any idea where he might have had her go?" He spoke urgently. But his words also had a gentleness to them.

Bella hadn't told me where she was supposed to meet him. I started to shake my head before remembering something, Alice's vision.

"The ballet studio," Alice and I said at the same time.

Alice must have told the others of her vision when Carlisle called earlier because they didn't seem surprised by the answer. Quickly, they all formed a plan before setting it into action. I told them the address of the studio and they all left in a hurry. Carlisle was the only one who stayed back as he was going to have to drive me in the car. Gently, he placed a hand on my lower back and started to lead me towards the parking garage. We found the car quickly and got in, Carlisle only waiting long enough for me to close my door before he stomped on the gas pedal.

For the first time ever, I didn't find myself uncomfortable with the speed of his driving. If anything, I wanted him to drive faster. I prayed that she was still alive, even if that would be very unlikely. It was weird that weeks ago I had been worried about this exact thing happening to one of us and now it was. Only, it wasn't Edward or one of the other Cullen's that was threatening Bella or my life, it was someone else. And the people that I had once feared were the ones that were trying to help.

* * *

Carlisle arrived at the studio faster than should have been possible. He seemed to kill the engine, get out of the car, and shut the door in the same amount of time that it took me to blink. I was just unbuckling my seatbelt when he bent down and looked at me through the open window.

"Alex. You should stay out here. One of us will come out and get you when it's safe." He didn't wait for me to complain before he used his vampire speed to enter the building.

I leaned back in the passenger seat with a huff, crossing my arms over my chest. I don't think I waited for longer than a minute. That was when I saw flames through the window and had to know what was going on. Throwing open my door, I didn't even bother to close it before running into the building. My legs took over and led me through the entryway and down the hall until they stopped in front of the doors that led into the largest practice studio.

"Bella!" I shouted, pushing open the doors and walking into the room.

My sister lay on the ground screaming, Carlisle, Edward, and Alice kneeling next to her while Jasper and Emmett threw what could only be pieces of James into a large fire. I ran over to the first group, sliding on my knees as I came to rest on the other side of Bella. Blood had started to pool on the ground, but I made myself look away from it.

"What happened?" I demanded, grabbing my sister's left hand.

"James bit her," Alice told me before getting up to go and help Emmett and Jasper with whatever they were doing with the fire.

My breath caught in my throat. "You have to do something," I said weakly, tears stinging my eyes.

Edward shook his head. "I—what if I won't be able to stop."

Carlisle looked up briefly from working on Bella's leg. "Find the will to stop. But choose, she only has minutes left."

I had no idea what they were talking about. Below me, Bella gave a loud scream as she continued to thrash in pain. Keeping her hand in my left, I slowly reached out to brush some hair from her forehead with my right. Once again, tears fell from my eyes as I tried to prepare myself for what I was about to watch. My sister was going to die right in front of me and turn into a vampire who could very likely end up killing me.

"It's alright, Bella," Edward said suddenly, "I'll make it go away." He then lifted his head to look at me. "I promise."

Taking Bella's right arm in both of his hands, he put her wound in his mouth and started to suck. I was about to start yelling at him, get him to stop, when Carlisle told me he was trying to suck the venom out like a snake bite. I saw that his words were true when Bella's screams started to become quieter and she didn't move around as much. Out of nowhere, a bubble of laughter escaped my mouth. She was going to be fine!

Carlisle looked up, his worried expression stopping my laughter quickly. "Edward, stop. Her blood is clean, you're killing her."

But Edward didn't listen. He continued to hold onto Bella's arm, drinking the sweetness that was her blood.

"Edward, please stop," I begged. "You promised."

Edward's dark eyes met my tear-filled ones. I stared, unblinkingly at him until he slowly released my sister's arm. A horrified expression clouded his face as he realized what he had almost done. But he stopped and that's all I cared about.

"Thank you," I mouthed, not being able to voice words.

"I've stopped the bleeding in her leg for now, but it will be for nothing if we don't get her to a hospital soon," Carlisle informed, looking from Edward to me.

I nodded my head, taking a deep breath to calm myself. "There's one only a few miles from here. The way you all drive we'll be there in no time."

"Let's go," Edward said, picking Bella up as gently as if she was a delicate flower.

I got up as well. Carlisle called out to the others, telling them to finish up here before going home. With James gone they didn't have to be here. Actually, they weren't supposed to be here and would look strange if they were seen here.

Edward laid Bella down in the backseat while Carlisle and I got in the front. As he started the engine and pulled away from the curb, I grabbed my phone from my back pocket.

"What the hell am I going to tell Charlie?"

* * *

Authors Note:: So, I was being lazy again a wasn't able to finish this update before I had to go to work. Sorry about that. Anyway, I hope you liked it! Thank you so much to the nine people that reviewed the previous chapter. I was so surprised it got that many when if was just a filler. You guys are awesome! I'm glade you all like my story so much! There should only be two more chapter left if everything goes as planed and then we get to move on to the summer mini series. I think you guys are going to like them, I have the first one finished already and I'm very proud of it! Thanks everyone else who has read, favorited, or followed this story! You guys mean a lot to me too! :)


	21. Chapter Twenty-One: More Than Bones

**Chapter Twenty-One: Mending More Than Bones**

"Alex! I've been trying to get a hold of you and your sister for days now. Are you both all right? Where are you? Did you both make it to Phoenix?" Charlie spat out quickly. He had answered the phone so fast it took me by surprise.

"Hey, dad," I said slowly, "Bella and I are in Phoenix. Sorry, I forgot to call."

I heard him give a sigh of relief. "Are you both okay?" He asked again.

"Not exactly," I muttered, turning to look at Bella passed out in the backseat. That only set Charlie off and brought on another round of questions. What had happened? How bad was it? Did they need to go to a hospital? Were they already at a hospital? It was enough to make my head spin.

"Dad!" I cried suddenly, interrupting him. "Bella got hurt pretty bad. We're on the way to the hospital now." As the words left my mouth, Carlisle pulled up in front of the hospital. "We just got here. I have to go. Please call mom and come up here? I love you."

Not giving him a chance to ask any more questions, I ended the call. Getting out of the car, I opened the door for Edward and watched as he picked up Bella just as carefully as he had done before and carried her into the hospital. Everyone looked at us for a moment before they all jumped into action. A gurney was brought over and Edward sat Bella down on it before walking with the hospital people as she was led out of the entrance. Carlisle walked up to the front desk and I followed closely behind.

"Can you tell me what happened, sir?" The nurse asked, her voice calm and eyes alert.

Carlisle began to tell her exactly what had happened, well, a made up version of what had happened. Bella was on her way up to his and Edward's hotel room when she fell down two flights of stairs and went through a window. He sounded so confident that I almost believed it to be true even though I knew it was a lie. He also started to tell the woman of Bella's severed femoral artery, how he made a makeshift tourniquet out of a belt, and the many other injuries he thought her to have.

The woman nodded her head before asking about Bella medical information: allergies, blood type, full name, parental information and more. Being her sister, I gave her everything that I knew. I also told her that I had already informed our parents so she didn't have too. When she had everything she needed, Carlisle and I walked away from the front desk and moved over to the waiting room.

"So, Bella went through a window, huh?" I said, and eyebrow raised. "How are we going to prove that when there aren't any hotels with a broken window?"

Carlisle gave me a small smile before pulling out his small silver cell phone. His fingers flew across the numbers quickly before he brought the device to his ear.

"Hello, Alice," he said, "Is everything taken care of?"

I couldn't hear Alice's answer but knew that everything was finished from the slight nod of Carlisle's head.

"Before you all leave, there's something else you need to do." Running his hand down his face, he gave out a sigh before bowing his head.

I wondered if something had gone wrong but quickly realized he was hiding his mouth so that he could speak quickly to Alice. It would probably be really unnerving for someone walking by to see his mouth moving in a blur or overhear that he was telling someone to break the window of a hotel. The total conversation lasted a total of thirty seconds at most before Carlisle lifted his head and returned the phone to his pocket.

I sat there quietly for a moment before looking at him, a small smile on my face. "You guys sure know how to get things done."

Carlisle didn't answer but merely smiled at me. We sat there for a few minutes before Edward came back and sat down in a chair across from us. After informing us that Bella was going into surgery, we slipped into silence as we waited for my sister to hopefully come out of surgery without any problems.

* * *

I got a call from Charlie around noon the next day. After a slight delay, his plane had finally landed and he would be there within the hour. He had talked to mom and she would be here soon as well. He tried to get me to tell him what was going on, but I promised I would tell him everything when he got here. He seemed a bit unhappy about that, but accepted it, telling me he would see me soon.

After putting my phone in my pocket, I got up from my seat and started down the long hallways towards the cafeteria. Without a word, Edward got up from his seat and started following behind me.

"James is gone, Edward. You don't have to worry anymore," I said without looking behind me.

Coming up to a vending machine outside the cafeteria, I started looking at all the different options before deciding on a small bag of cookies. My hands went to my pockets but came up empty. Just as I let out a sigh of disappointment, a white hand passed in front of me holding a crisp green dollar.

"Thank you." I flashed him a smile before feeding the money into the machine and pushing the numbers that would give me my snack. Bending down, I grabbed the package and quickly opened it up before placing one of the delicious chocolate chip cookies in my mouth. "Oh my god, that hits the spot," I moaned happily. It had been almost a day since I've last eaten something.

"So how are you hanging in there?" I asked as we both walked back to the small waiting room.

"Better now that I know she's okay," Edward replied slowly, his hands deep in his dark blue hoodie.

It had been a rough first couple of hours. Bella ended up having four broken ribs, a broken leg, a few cracks in her skull, and needed at least three blood transfusions to help replace some of the blood she had lost. It had been early in the morning when the doctors came and told me that Bella was fine, but couldn't be seen just yet because they wanted to monitor her for a few hours.

"We'll get to see her soon, hopefully," I said returning to my chair.

Charlie arrived twenty minutes later. He had been surprised to see Carlisle and Edward sitting next to me, but didn't question it as I jumped up from my seat and rushed into his arms. I apologized for running out on him and then not calling for a couple of days, but he hushed me, awkwardly patting my hair. I didn't let go of him as Carlisle started filling Charlie in on what happened. He seemed a bit uneasy with the story but didn't say anything. He was just happy to know that Bella was fine.

* * *

"Alex!" Renée cried, running into the waiting room. "Baby! Are you okay? How's Bella? What happened?"

A chuckle rippled out of my mouth as I shook my head, wrapping my arms around my mom. "I'm fine, Mom. Bella is too. The doctor said she's been moved to her own room and that we can see her in a half hour."

Letting go, I pulled Renée over towards the row of chairs and sat her down before filling her in on everything that had happened. I started with what had "happened" in Forks that led Bella to want leave in the first place, explaining that Emmett (Edward's brother) had said something she felt uncomfortable with and that Edward had tried to make her feel better but instead said the same thing and made it worse. When he and Carlisle had come to explain everything, Bella had tripped and fell down the stairs on the way to their room resulting in her going through the window at the bottom. Carlisle, being a doctor, fixed her up as best he could before driving her to the hospital.

I was so used to the lie by now that it came easily. Renée took the explanation without question, thanking Carlisle and Edward for coming after us. She believed that Carlisle was the reason why Bella was all right and I couldn't really disagree. Without his cool head and quick thinking, things might have ended differently.

After that, she filled me in on everything that happened with her and Phil while we waited for the doctor to tell us we could see Bella. Apparently he had gotten signed so they were going to move to Florida. She wanted Bella and I to move with her, but I turned her down. As much as I loved her, I liked living in Forks and didn't want to leave Charlie again.

"Swans'?" A nurse called, walking into the waiting room. "Isabella is still sleeping, but the doctor has informed me that you are welcome to see her."

Charlie, Renée, and I both stood and followed her as she led us to Bella's room. My heart ached as I looked at my sister laying on the hospital bed with a large mess of tubes attached to her. I took a step towards Charlie who put an arm around my shoulder. We all pulled up chairs next to her bed and sat down, hoping that she would wake up soon.

* * *

A large smile stretched across my lips as Charlie pulled the cruiser into the driveway. It had been almost a week since I'd last seen it and it warmed my heart. Unbuckling my seat belt, I got out of the car and hurried to hold the front door open for Charlie who helped support Bella. She had trouble walking when she was completely healthy we didn't want her to fall down and hurt herself even more now that she had a boot on.

"Guys, I'm not made of glass," Bella protested as we helped her up into her room as well.

"Are you sure? 'Cause you've broken more bones than I can count," I shot back, an eyebrow raised.

Bella shot me a glare as she sat down on the bed. I unpacked her bag for her before going into my own room and falling face first onto the bed. A groan escaped my mouth as I blindly stretched out a hand to grab a corner of my comforter and fold it over my body. After days of very little sleep, it felt good be in my own bed. I didn't get to sleep too long, however, as someone started yelling in my ear.

"Wake up, bitch!"

"Huh?" Lifting my head, I jumped as my tired eyes only made out a head of flaming hair. It took me a moment before I realized it wasn't Victoria, but rather Leslie standing in my room. "What?"

"Thanks so much for telling me you were going out of town," she said angrily, hands on her hips. "And answering my texts. You're a real friend."

"I'm sorry, it was an important family thing," I said, sitting up. My mouth opened wide as a long yawn overtook me. She just glared at me. "Come on, I said I was sorry."

She sighed after a few seconds, her hands dropping from her hips. "Fine. I'll forgive you. But you so owe me."

"I'll watch whatever superhero movie you want me to watch," I promised, causing her to smile widely.

"And pizza. And chocolate. You're going to bring lots of chocolate," she said happily, clapping her hands. "I'm going to introduce you to Marvel next."

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. "Okay, this weekend."

"So will I see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yup. I'll be there." She eyed me suspiciously for a few seconds but soon nodded her head.

"I'll see you then," she called over her shoulder, walking out of my room.

I watched her go for a while before lying back down and closing my eyes.

* * *

Authors Note:: I had a really hard time writing this chapter...the hospital parts anyway. I think I rewrote it at least three times before deciding to write it this way. It's still now how I would like it to be but I figured I might as well post what I have now and fix it later so we can get one step closer to ending this story. I also wanted Jacob and Billy to stop by at the end but couldn't get it to work so that kinda sucks. Oh well, we'll just get more Jacob/Alex interaction in the next chapter then, which just so happens to be the last chapter! Yay! We're almost there! Thank you so so much to the seven people that reviewed the previous chapter, you guys are awesome! I have Alex's fate all planed out so even though it would be awesome to see her handle life as a vampire before Bella, it's not going to happen. As for New Moon, the plan is for Alex to move away from always being with Bella to being more of her own person. You'll start to see that change in the mini series. Thank you everyone else who has read, favorited, and followed this story! You are all awesome too!


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two: A Warning

**Chapter Twenty-Two: A Warning**

"No, Leslie, we're watching _Grease_ and that's that," I said forcefully, my hands on my hips.

My red-haired friend whined while flashing me a pleading look. "Are you sure you don't want to watch Thor or something?" she asked, "You owe me, remember?"

I rolled my eyes while shaking my head, bending down to place the DVD in. "I've already made it up to you." I reminded her, pressing place. "Plus, I've watched tons of superhero movies with you. It won't kill you to watch one musical."

Turning around, I saw her hanging off the end of the couch. Her eyes were closed and her tongue was hanging out as she pretended to be dead. Walking over to her, I grabbed the pillow from Charlie's armchair and threw it at her head. I smiled as it found its target with a satisfying 'whack'. Leslie gave a cry of surprise and tried to get up only for the rest of her body to fall to the ground. She glared at me as I fell into the armchair laughing.

As planned weeks ago, Leslie showed up at my house twenty minutes after Bella left with Edward to go to Prom. After sitting up in my room for a bit, we changed into our pajamas before going downstairs to kick Charlie out of the living room so that we could watch a movie.

I continued to laugh until the movie finally loaded and the opening scene started to play. When that happened, I started shushing her even though she wasn't making any noise while jumping up from the chair and sitting cross-legged on the couch. As usual, a goofy smile crossed my face as I watched Danny and Sandy walk along the beach. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Leslie pretending to gag, but I didn't let that get to me.

"I just love this movie so much!" I cried when the opening credits start. Getting up from the couch, I walked into the kitchen and grabbed two different bags of chips and two pops from the fridge before returning.

"It's not too late, we could still start another movie," Leslie assured me, taking the coke I handed her.

"I will make you watch _West Side Story_ after this if you don't be quiet," I threatened, returning to my spot on the couch. "Just give it a chance, I'm sure you're going to like it."

"I doubt that," Leslie said, only to be shushed by me as the movie started again.

When the first song finished, the doorbell rang and caused me to groan. Picking up the remote, I paused the movie before going to answer it.

"Don't even think about it," I called over my shoulder, stopping Leslie from grabbing the remote to turn the movie off.

Pulling open the door, I was surprised to see Jacob standing on the other side. Instead of his usual jeans and shirt he was wearing a black pair of dress pants and a white button-down shirt. Smiling, I leaned against the doorframe and crossed my arms.

"So where have you been the last couple of weeks?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

To be honest, I had been expecting him to show up shortly after Leslie the night Charlie had brought Bella and I back home. When he hadn't, I didn't know why, but I was a bit disappointed.

"Home, my dad didn't really want me to come over." He admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"And why's that?"

"Actually, that's why I'm here," he said. "Sort of, anyway. My dad doesn't want you to hang around the Cullen's anymore. He said they're bad news and that you'll get hurt like Bella." His tone gave away how uncomfortable he was.

"You're dad told you to tell me that?" I asked, slightly annoyed. "You should tell him who I hang out with and who Bella dates is none of his business."

Jacob nodded his head. "I know, it's just, he paid me to talk to you guys."

"You talked to Bella?" I asked, confused. "Were you at Prom? Is that why you're dressed so nice?"

Jacob nodded his head again. "Yeah. I told her pretty much the same thing only that my dad wanted her to break up with Cullen."

I laughed. "Good luck with that. Anything else dear Billy wanted me to know?"

"Yeah, just that 'we'll be watching'."

My eyebrows came together as a confused look crossed my face. "What the heck does that mean?"

Now it was Jacob's turn to laugh. "I really don't know."

"Hey! Are we going to watch this stupid movie or not!" Leslie yelled impatiently from the living room, reminding me that she was still waiting in the other room.

"I'll let you get back to your friend," Jacob said, taking a step back from the door.

I don't know what made me do it, but I stretched out a hand and caught hold of his shoulder, holding him in place.

"If you want, you could stay and hang out with me and my friend Leslie," I offered. "We just started watching my one of my favorite movies."

"What movie is that?"

"_Grease_."

Jacob wrinkled his nose before shaking his head. "Nah, that's okay."

From the kitchen, a faint beeping started signaling that the pizza I had put in twenty minutes ago was ready. I decided to use it a bargaining chip.

"I have pizza and a bunch of other junk."

He stood there silently for a moment, thinking it over before shrugging his shoulders. "What the heck."

I gave an excited jump before stepping aside to let him in. He followed me to the kitchen and watched as I pulled the pizza from the oven. Setting it down on its box, I started carrying into the living room.

"Pizza's done!" I announced, walking into the room and setting the circle of deliciousness on the coffee table.

Leslie smiled and grabbed a piece, blowing on it to cool it down. She was just about to take a bite when Jacob walked into the room, a pop in hand.

"Who the heck are you?" She asked, glaring at the boy who now stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"Leslie, this is my friend Jacob. He was the one that was at the door and I thought I would ask if he wanted to watch the movie with us," I explain, sitting down next to her on the couch. "Jacob, this is my friend Leslie. She's not as tough as she tries to be."

Leslie just continued to glare while Jacob gave an uncomfortable wave before sitting in Charlie's chair. I nodded at Leslie to get her to stop before pushing the play button and grabbing a piece of pizza. We all sat in silence watching the movie and munching on snacks. I could tell that Jacob felt a bit awkward as he didn't really interact with us as much at first and that Leslie wasn't too happy because she sat with her arms crossed over her chest for a while. But they both soon got over it. The movie was halfway through when Charlie came out of his room for a sandwich and beer. He was a bit surprised to see Jacob sitting in his chair, but didn't say anything. Instead, he just waved slightly before returning to his room.

When the movie finished, I walked Jacob to the door and said goodbye before heading up to my room with Leslie where she complained about me letting Jacob crash our get together before deciding that it was because I liked him. She brought it up every chance she got. It wasn't until I threatened to never watch another movie with her again that she finally stopped.

"Okay, but just admit that you like him a little," Leslie said from the floor. The lights were off and we laying down, waiting for sleep to take over.

"I do not," I said for what felt like the millionth time. My tone was even, but I couldn't help but feel a small flutter in my chest.

* * *

Authors Note:: See, I told you guys picking a movie was important! Anyway, oh m gosh I can't believe that this story got one hundred reviews. Honestly, I started this story because I found a very old, very bad ruff daft from 2009 that made me want to cry. I wrote this to prove to myself that I was so much better than I used to be an now we are here, my second completed story. It's just amazing. The New Moon sequel, Falling Skies, will be posted when the mini series is finished in three weeks. During that time I will be working on the first couple of chapters for that as well as my other stories. Thank you so much for the eight people that reviewed the last chapter, you're all awesome. So are all the people who have read, favorited, and followed this story! :)


	23. Authors Note!

Authors Note::

First of all, I would just like to thank everyone who has supported this story. We've got over a hundred reviews, almost a hundred favorites, and over a hundred follows. That is just amazing, I can't thank you guys enough. Second, for those of you who aren't following me as an author, the mini series has been posted. It's titled _Heat of Summer_ and I would love you all to check it out. A little bit about it, there will be three chapters total and each one will contain two different days during the summer. And don't worry, there is going to be plenty of Jacob. Feel free to let me know what you guys want to see and I might add more days from the summer. There is also a collection on polyvore so please check that out as well. Thanks everyone. :)

7/7/2014::

All of the chapters for this story have been edited so hopefully there aren't as many grammatical errors. :)

10/12/2015::

All of the chapters for this story have been edited and added to once again. Also, a tumblr has ben made for Alex when WIPs and other cool things are posted so you should check that you :) Just search for lexi-swan.


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